Material

iron

Purpose

Green beans entered the device through the insertion holes and were sliced with the turn of the handle, which rotated the blades. The distinctive features of many cast iron bean slicers are the protrusions that cover the bean insertion and exit holes on the face of the machine; these protrusions can be seen on this bean slicer located on the side opposite the blades.

Creation Date

1875 – 1899

Date Details

The features of this device that lead to the detection of this item as a bean slicer were the protruding holes on surface of the machine (see inset picture above). These were comparable to a similar, but rare, cast iron bean slicer in Kitchen Collectibles (Plante 78) and the description of several features of other bean slicers as recognized in 300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles (Franklin 17). The bean slicers identified in these two sources were introduced in the very late 19th and the early 20th centuries. Consequently, it can be reasonably assumed that this bean slicer was also employed during this same time period.

Kitchen Artifact ID

K024