To The Point: A Mystery Artifact Revealed

We've only had one guess on this mystery artifact on the blog, but it was the correct one! This strange little machine is a pencil sharpener.

The name of this particular style of pencil sharpener was the “Perfect Pencil Pointer.” It would have been used something like this:

If you needed a sharper pencil,  you would place the pencil through the donut-shaped apparatus, which would move back and forth along the bar.   The metal plate on the bottom is actually a file that would sharpen the pencil to a point, and the trough at the bottom is there to catch pencil shavings. The purpose of the little brass teeth is to turn the pencil around as it was being sharpened.  

This particular type of pencil sharpener was patented in 1890 at a time when many different styles of mechanical pencil sharpeners were being sold.  Before this time, most people would simply sharpen their pencils by whittling them with a knife. Which, apparently was a man's job, as we can see in this advertisement (for a different pencil sharpener) from around the same time:

As always, please come down to the museum to take a closer look at this artifact and so much more! Hope to see you soon!

Scraping Together a Mystery Artifact

Hello again! Here we are with another mystery artifact!

This one is rather strange-looking. It has a circular apparatus that moves back and forth on the bar along the top.

The bar has a set of brass teeth along its bottom.

Underneath that is a wide textured metal plate on a sloped surface that ends in a shallow trench on the bottom.

So what do you think? What was this apparatus used for?

As always, please post your answers in the comment section of the blog below or on our Facebook page.  Good luck!

A Nip and Tuck: Mystery Artifact Revealed

Hello, everyone!

Despite some interesting conversation around what this object could be, including speculation that it was a button-hole cutter for 19th-century ladies' shoes, no one guessed our mystery artifact this week.

This is, in fact, a sugar cutter.  They are sometimes known as sugar nips or sugar nippers.

Instead of coming in the granulated form that we're now used to, refined sugar used to be sold in the form of a tall solid cone, otherwise known as a sugarloaf.  Sugarloaves were made by pouring the refined liquid sugar into a conical mold and letting the syrupy, uncrystallized sugar drip through a hole at the small end of the mold.  Then the sugarloaf would be wrapped in paper and sold.

Here is an example of a wrapped sugarloaf or sugarcone that is on display at the Museum of the Grand Prairie.  Do you know where it is?  In which exhibit is it located?

The sugar cutter would be used in the home to break these sugarloaves into smaller pieces.  Then, depending on the intended use for the sugar, people would put small pieces into their sugar bowls (for tea or similar purposes  - "one lump or two?") or grind them down into the granulated form most of us are used to today.

The sugar nipper featured as our mystery artifact is set on a wooden base, which was probably so one could put their full strength into cutting the hard pieces of sugarloaf.

However, we have a few other sets in our collection, some of which are handheld like the example below:

This set has a piece of metal sticking off the side of the handle to stead the cutter against the side of a table, in an effort to make cutting the sugarloaf a bit easier.

Here are a few more interesting examples from our collection:

This one is unusual in that you put the pieces of sugarloaf into the center of the nipper, rather than bringing the sugar cutter to the loaf! I am sure having a custom-made tool for breaking up sugarloaves was much easier than trying to chisel lumps off with a knife or other utensil.

Our sugar nips will be on display at the museum this weekend, if you would like to take a closer look!  We hope to see you soon!

Cutting to the Chase: Mystery Artifact

Hello there!

Here is this week's Mystery Artifact!

 As you can see, it looks vaguely like a set of tongs with pointed ends. They are set on a wooden base on a brass stand.

The handle moves up and down, allowing the pointed blades to cut.

So what do you think? How was this artifact used?

As always, please post your answers in the comment section of the blog below or on our Facebook page.  Good luck guessing this one - it might be tricky!

Rise and Shine: Mystery Artifact Revealed!

We had some really clever guesses for this week's mystery artifact!

The lidded pail can be clamped to the edge of a table for stability, and the handle attaches to a mixing hook on the interior (which is visible - but hard to see - in the photo below):

Readers' guesses included butter churn, ice cream maker, and popcorn stirrer - all good guesses as to this object's function!  However, Penny had the correct answer.  This object is an early bread machine.

Directions on the lid of the pail direct users to:
"Put in all liquids first, then flour.  Turn three minutes.  Rise in pail.  After raising, turn until dough forms a ball.  Take off crosspiece.  Lift out dough with kneader.  Cover with this [the lid] when raising."

After the dough had risen, the breadmaker would then divide the dough between loaf pans and bake the bread.

Our bread maker, Universal Bread Maker No. 4 - as you can see below, was awarded a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis Exposition.  The text on the medallion also gives the makers' names (Landers, Frary, & Clark) and location in New Britain, Connecticut.

Patent information is also listed under a tab (which, sadly, has become frozen over time, making photography difficult)!

A bread machine similar to the one from our collection is listed in the 1922 edition of the Montgomery Ward Catalogue.  The advert describes the Majestic Bread Maker as the "easiest, quickest, and surest way of preparing perfect bread."

I do love their claim that the "work is done with scientific accuracy, thoroughly and evenly, producing bread that is firm, light, white and free from unbroken starch cells"!  I'm sure Alton Brown would be proud!

The museum will be switching to our summer hours (open 10am to 5pm) on Memorial Day so come on over to see our Universal Bread Maker No. 4 in person!

Thanks for guessing, faithful readers, and enjoy your holiday weekend!

Mystery Artifact: Rise of the Machines

Greetings!  Please welcome back our Mystery Artifact feature, which we hope will return with weekly posts now that our large exhibits are complete!

Here is today's mystery object:

The object is bucket-like, with a clamp that allows it to be secured to a table- or bench-top.  It includes a lid with instructions (which are a dead giveaway, so I will not post them here!), a handle that fits through the lid, and an interior mechanism as seen below:

Here is an image of the object partially disassembled, but with the interior mechanism still in place:

What do you think this item was used for?  What could it be?  Please post your guesses in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.

If you want a close-up look at the writing stamped on the lid, which gives a big clue to this artifact's use, please visit it at the Museum of the Grand Prairie.  Can't wait to hear your guesses!

Calling All (New) Gardeners!

There's still room in our Summer Camps for more campers! If you are looking for a way for your child to enjoy the outdoors while learning about gardening and where food comes from, look no further! We are introducing new Garden Camps this year for kids ranging from 2 years old to 12!  Whether your child has never planted a seed before or has a seasoned green thumb we guarantee these camps will continue your child's relationship with nature and gardening!