# What is it ?



## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

IT'S time for what is it .
historical items ,vintage items what is it please feel free to add your own item.
and please keep it too kitchen/ knife stuff .

1st




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2nd 



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## Crothcipt (Jul 1, 2012)

Cake knife, Weights for traveling merchents.

Not sure about the cake knife.


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

no sorry, play again


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## ajhuff (Jul 1, 2012)

Bottom looks like maybe salt cellars or spice/pepper jars?

-AJ


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## GlassEye (Jul 1, 2012)

Cheese knife?

Spice box?


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Glasseye has the 2nd one with spicebox spices were rare and costly back then this one is from the 1700's if you go to a indian market sometimes you can find one 
i saw one at World Market a retail store .




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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

3rd one 



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## GlassEye (Jul 1, 2012)

Curd scoop?


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## Justin0505 (Jul 1, 2012)

Yeah, #3 definitely looks like something for skimming the top layer off a big pot or vat of liquid... like how you use a ladle to get the solids off of the top of a sauce or the extra fat from a soup. 

How bout a hint for #1? Is that bulbous tip used as grip for you 2nd hand or to prevent the knife from poking a hole in something delicate?


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

No on both 

#1 is for a special dish.


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## Deckhand (Jul 1, 2012)

#1 cheese knife
#2 spice containers
#3 flour scoop


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

:scratchhead:#2 has been answered by Glasseye

no one has #1 and #3


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## Crothcipt (Jul 1, 2012)

#3 I would say would be for removing ash, carbon form bottom of ovens.

#1 for cutting shepherds pie, or some what like it? Haggis maybe?


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## TB_London (Jul 1, 2012)

No idea for 1 and 3

If I may I'll add #4


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## ecchef (Jul 1, 2012)

Here's my guess. 

#3. Some kind of dry goods scoop. Rolled edge not good for scraping, but practical for use in scooping things from burlap or cotton sacks. No drain holes, so I'm eliminating any cheesemaking application.

#1. Everyone knows that you use a Claymore for cutting the Haggis! :knight: Seriously, it appears too blunt to be an actual cutting instrument. Some kind of scraping operation, like for raclette, but the handle offset would make it unwieldly. 

Bootscraper for the butcher shop? :sofa:

#4. Oyster opener?


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## Crothcipt (Jul 1, 2012)

I am thinking haggis just because the old way was in a pie like shape. Hense the reason for the offset handle.

As I was reading your post I was thinking for cutting tofu too.


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## GlassEye (Jul 1, 2012)

Crothcipt said:


> As I was reading your post I was thinking for cutting tofu too.



That was one of my guesses, as well. To make blocks while in a mould.


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Crothcipt said:


> #3 I would say would be for removing ash, carbon form bottom of ovens.
> 
> #1 for cutting shepherds pie, or some what like it? Haggis maybe?



for #3 your way off thinking is in the wrong direction think upright. 

for #1 YOU ARE ALMOST THERE 

#4 oyster knife


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## sachem allison (Jul 1, 2012)

terrine knife?


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## Justin0505 (Jul 1, 2012)

This is a fun game, but it's driving me nuts. 
#1 has to be for cutting something while it's still in a container. His clue: "it's for a special dish" was both referring to the food that it's cutting and the dish that the food is in. It would have to be something soft that could be easily push-cut and that is too delicate to take out of the dish to cut it. Tofu was a great guess, but the knife looks European / western in style. Sooo... that makes me think maybe dairy of some sort? Butter? Cheese?

#3 Has to be for liquid... But what kind of liquid? It looks like is supposed to be pressed straight down (handle up) into a barrel or big container. The liquid would flow over the front edge / open side. Then you tip it up to carry without spilling. This design would make getting liquid out of the bottom of the container much easier than with a scoop shaped more like a traditional cup / cylinder. But what liquid???


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## Pabloz (Jul 1, 2012)

#1 is for steering a bull

#2 is a portable urinal


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Pabloz said:


> #1 is for steering a bull
> 
> #2 is a portable urinal



No but you win with that steering the bull guess.

since some are are very close to #1 IT IS a Bubble and Squeak knife/scraper.



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it has different names all around the world but mostly fried left overs with potato's and cabbage .
1870 recipe 



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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

and some more knives .



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OK for #3 a hint .



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## ecchef (Jul 1, 2012)

Offal catcher?


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## sachem allison (Jul 1, 2012)

blood scoop


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

ECCHEF has it .
for the catching the entrails from hanging stock . that is from the Chicago over a 100 years ago.

good job everyone 
now let me see what else i have and again feel free to jump in even if it is a bull steering device .


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Ok we will call these 

# 4 what is it and for what ?



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## SpikeC (Jul 1, 2012)

mill stone for grinding grain.


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## Justin0505 (Jul 1, 2012)

Burr from worlds largest vintage burr grinder? 
-or-
Failed devil's food cake?


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

it is special made , but close spike.


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## SpikeC (Jul 1, 2012)

For grinding soy beans?


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## Boki (Jul 1, 2012)

Old Mexican chocolate grinding mill i think native call it molino, my grandfather had one imported back 1940's to Ex-Yugoslavia. he had that contraption running on steam. 




steeley said:


> Ok we will call these
> 
> # 4 what is it and for what ?
> 
> ...


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Boki has it .
that stone was dressed in Mexico and now maintain by the owner.



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## Crothcipt (Jul 1, 2012)

Wow Boki has some chops. Nice one! I was thinking it was used for seeds.


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## Pabloz (Jul 1, 2012)

WHOA... I was gonna say coffee grinder for the gauchos steering the bulls.

PZ


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Now for a little something on mill stones and cacao and mill dressers.

fresh cocao



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then it is dried and toasted and ground from big stones to little hand held ones.



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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

or by hand then it is mixed with sugar vanilla some evaporated milk or what ever your blend is .



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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

the mill stone and the almost lost art of the mill dresser.
for grain or flour.



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the mill dresser and tools 



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In England there was the itinerant millstone dresser. In America, on the other hand, the poor miller most often had to dress his own millstones. Properly maintained and dressed millstones could mean the difference between a mill making a profit or losing money. The well-dressed millstones will give the miller better control over the quality and quantity of the flour ground. The art and skill of millstone dressing varied from mill to mill. One dresser may think cracking lines are useful, while another thinks they are totally useless. Traditionally, millwrights did not dress the millstones. Today the independent itinerant millstone dresser is almost unknown. The skill will not die out as long as mills still use millstones. Today as yesterday, not all millers know how to dress millstones. The late Charlie Howell said that he had dressed millstones in 33 states and 7 countries. Some of his tools had been passed down through his family. Charlie kept these tools alive by inserting modern carbide tips in the picks. Mill picks when removed from the mill are often not recognized for what they are. If they are recognized, it may not be fully understood how they were used. They are simple tools used on hard stones. The job of the millstone dresser is hard work.


now you can go watch cartoons.


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Some of you know Bob's Red Mill products he dresses his own stones.



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## Deckhand (Jul 1, 2012)

Yep, I use Bob's Red Mill quinoa. My wife and I followed this thread all day. Great fun.


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## steeley (Jul 1, 2012)

Well ask your lovely wife about these two.

Up again on What is it.

#5



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# 6



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## Deckhand (Jul 1, 2012)

My wife said it's a metal rolling pin and a nut cracker to keep me in line! :eek2:


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## GlassEye (Jul 1, 2012)

I know 5(tricky) and 6. I will leave the enjoyment of guessing for others.


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## Deckhand (Jul 2, 2012)

I will guess a spaghetti roller, and a shellfish opener.


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## sachem allison (Jul 2, 2012)

#5 pie dough roller, you unscrew the end and put ice cubes in it to keep the dough cold when you work it.


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

I am being a little deceptive here let me open it.



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## Deckhand (Jul 2, 2012)

Fruit carving tool- for garnishing. My wife guesses oyster knife.


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## Crothcipt (Jul 2, 2012)

# 6 is what is used to seal bags of grain, cotton. You know burlap its used to poke the hole in the bag so you can tie the end up.


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## sachem allison (Jul 2, 2012)

steeley said:


> I am being a little deceptive here let me open it.
> 
> 
> 
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marrow scoop or stilton knife?


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

OK deckhand came the closes.
but what kind.


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## sachem allison (Jul 2, 2012)

pineapple.lol


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

Victorian silver apple corer and knife made in Birmingham by Joesph Willmore in 1820
he was know for small kitchen items .

this is silver and ivory around $400
so if you see one pick it up as they are rare.



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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

# 6 is still up 
hint: key word ; what Flo the waitress says to when you order.


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

here is another one . like #6.



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## Deckhand (Jul 2, 2012)

Ah... thanks! We had a great time.

#6- tool used in making grits?


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## VoodooMajik (Jul 2, 2012)

#6 for Pitting fruit maybe?


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## Deckhand (Jul 2, 2012)

My wife guessed 6- sugar snips/nippers.


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

:ggodjob:Your wife has done it SUGAR NIPS .


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

The whiter the sugar, the more elegant, desirable and expensive it was. In medieval times, sugar was brought to Europe from the near East. For a long time it was an expensive luxury sold in tiny quantities alongside spices. It was used for medicinal purposes or special concoctions cooked for the nobility. By 1600 when the picture of sugar-making above was published, sugar was becoming a little more available. The cone-shaped moulds for the loaves had holes in the bottom so the dark treacly syrup from a mess of boiled sugar-cane could drain out. This didn't leave perfectly white sugar in the mould, and "double-refining" was used to produce a better grade of refined white sugar. Extra ingredients were used to encourage whitening and purification - from clay to bullocks' blood.




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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

Swedish sugar loaf nippers and collector 



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Mexico unrefined sugar piloncillo



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and in some parts of the world still sell sugar loafs



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## TB_London (Jul 2, 2012)

Lol your 6 is also my 4


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## ecchef (Jul 2, 2012)

This is damn good fun Steeley! Thanks!:doublethumbsup:


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## Eamon Burke (Jul 2, 2012)

Nice! I wanna try!

That cacao pod made me hungry. Love raw cacao.


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## Deckhand (Jul 2, 2012)

Thanks again Steeley! My wife was thrilled when she found the answer last night, and you said she was right. This is like advanced food jeopardy.


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## steeley (Jul 2, 2012)

NO Thank you for joining in that's what is fun around here all great people .

and Deckhand your wife did a great job !

TBLONDON that was funny .

Thanks again everyone will try again next week .
Steeley


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