World War I—The Great War and The War to End All Wars—began when the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia on July 28, 1914. The region was already a pressure cooker. Hungary, however, was the most politically stable part of the Habsburg Monarchy.
The pressure cooker was not invented in Hungary. It was created in the 17th century by the physicist Denis Papin, and works by expelling air from the vessel, and trapping the steam produced from the boiling liquid inside. This raises the internal pressure and permits higher cooking temperatures. Pressure.
Today, Hungary’s president, Vikor Orbán, has curtailed press freedom, eroded judicial independence and placed a pall over multiparty democracy. Many consider Hungary to have experienced a loss of democracy during Orbán’s presidency. It has become a country under authoritarian pressure.
So it is appropriate that one of the finest pressure cookers in the world, the KUKTA, designed to use pressure to an advantage, is a Hungarian brand.
Strained as this line of thinking may be, this post–World War II instruction booklet featuring the KUKTA mascot (if you recall, Friday’s Daily Heller was also about mascots) takes the pressure off of operating this popular kitchen appliance.
Frankly, the only reason for this specific post is to show you a cleverly performative example of infographics enabling this mostly wordless booklet to speak a thousand. Élvez! Enjoy!
