Food Chopper for Meat and Vegetables

Type: Food preparation
Material
iron
wood
tin
Purpose
Through a series of rotating gears, the tin cylinder (pail) would revolve on a ratchet underneath as the chopping blade rose and fell within the pail to chop meat or vegetables.
Creation Date
1850 – 1899
Date Details
According to Forgotten Household Crafts (Seymour 22), hand operated chopping and mixing machines, analogous to this model, were available after 1850. In addition, 300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles (Franklin 32), refers to the Athol Machine Co. food chopper created by Leroy Starrett, and patented in 1865, that appears to be almost exactly the same as the device seen above. Thus, it may be correct to presume that this machine probably dates back to the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Kitchen Artifact ID
K022
Institutional Collection
Phillips House Museum