Picked up this nice old Grape Crusher over the weekend. Made by the Savoy Press co. of Philadelphia, PA.
I figure it’s 1920’s or so. nice wood and cast iron, (rollers are aluminum) construction. let’s get crushing!
Category Archives: Tool Museum
Cherry pitting followup
I recently acquired this super neat little cherry pitter. No maker’s marking, cast aluminum with a red plastic base. probably 1950’s.
Rotor Salad Spinner/Dryer
I got this neat old contraption from one of our best Vintage suppliers. He found it at a flea market in Connecticut.
It says “Rotor” on the outside pressed into the galvenized steel. The interior basket is tinned wire.
The coolest part is the drive mechanism which works by way of a ribbon wrapped around the driveshaft. You pull it out to start the spin and then when it reaches the end of the ribbon the basket changes direction and re-wraps the ribbon on the shaft so you can spin again!
I can’t find any patent info on this. Please send along any info you have on this cool old tool.
Deep Fry Thermometer
This nice old Deep Fry Thermometer was made by the REIDER co. It says N.Y.C. on it and “made in U.S.A.”
It’s aluminum with etched markings. and a nice wood handle. Wouldn’t be very good for candy or sugar though, as cleaning the bottom would be a real pain. It took some scrubbing to clean when I got it. It looks to be complete and has a great look to it.Have to be careful not to break this one, it’s got real old school mercury in the bulb.
Conservation isn’t new, we just forgot.
I recently picked up a few of these 1940’s government pamphlets about the fishing industry while searching for vintage goods.
This one has the more interesting cover, the other three (for other geographic areas of the US, were blue cover with white writing)
They’re basically an informative pamphlet, in true exhaustive government fashion, about the fisheries as they existed in 1943.
A quick look at the index on the first page will give you an idea:
But then the real kicker. Read the paragraph that appears in the FIRST PAGE! So much for conservation of the oceans being a “new” idea. I know that fishermen have been trying for years to both reap the benefits and conserve the resources, but the thing that I find most interesting is that this was published by the government. I guess once the war (WWII) ended and we needed more food to feed the expanding suburbs conservation was put on the back burner along with fuel efficiency, and any regard for the environment.
Well I guess we can all learn something from our pre- post-war, and pre refrigerated shipping ideas. Better to eat a greater variety and closer to home. hmm not a bad idea.
Meat Tenderizing Hatchet
This is an old (1940’s or 1950’s) Meat Tenderizer. Probably came in a set of the ubiquitous “Ecko” or “L&H” tool sets. We’ll have to give it a try against a heavier one sometime for pounding out pork or beef.
It’s hard to see in the picture but it has two blades. Hard to know what the hatchet side is really useful for…
The Brooklyn Kitchen 