Hello from Hazard!
OK, we stand corrected: Item No. 1130 is a grinder, yes, but not for sausage or meat. It’s a tobacco grinder.
There’s a subtle difference, as Gailey Henderson, of Williamstown, West Virginia, tells us: The teeth on the tobacco cutter are square, not sharp. The meat cutter that looks exactly like this model has sharp teeth and the discharge end is round and extended to make the sausage.
Jon Powell, of Warren, Ohio, also knew it was a tobacco grinder, as did longtime Hazard reader Lowell Reed, of Cowansville, Pennsylvania, who has two in his collection; Guy Merryman, of Cadiz, Ohio; and Steve Burkhart, of Woodsfield, Ohio, who has three examples.
Burkhart says these are typically mounted to a board for use, and most of the ones he’s seen have no identification. One of his examples was patented Aug. 2, 1859; ext. Aug. 2, 1873. It’s a little more unusual because it has two shafts. The one is the drum with spiral teeth, but the other shaft has round blades that mesh between the spiral teeth when turned.
“Over the many years, I have seen them auctioned as sausage mills,” Burkhart writes. “It was amusing, because I would like to see someone try to pass meat through a tobacco shredder.”
So if you’re keeping track, be sure to mark this one as a corrected answer!
Ronnie Kotkowski and Jim Moffet were quick to email us that Item No. 1131 is a picket fence (think snow fence) making machine.
Moffet adds the one we show, submitted by Ed Homer, of Transfer, Pa., is probably missing some of the original parts.
“With the four sprocket-like wheels, you could make fence with only two set of wires, one near the bottom and the other near the top. This was sufficient for chicken enclosures or a garden fence,” Moffet writes. “If making a circle fence for ear corn then three or four set of wires were used.
“Turning the crank would rotate the four sprockets, which would twist the two wires in each sprocket.”
Another example of the ingenuity that sparked, no doubt, from a farmer somewhere! Thanks to you both for your prompt responses!
So we’re quickly moving on to Item No. 1132, shared by Deb Warner, of Tyler County, West Virginia. The handle measures 9 1/2 inches and the base is 2 7/8 inches wide. She suspects it is a potato masher, but isn’t sure. Can anyone confirm or give us its true use?
Email us at editorial@farmanddairy.com; or by mail to: Hazard a Guess, c/o Farm and Dairy, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460.
NOTE: The Hazard a Guess deadline for the Memorial Day holiday is very early (Thursday at 10 a.m.), which means most of you will not have seen this issue by the time we start production again on the May 30 issue. Send us your responses anyway, but it’s not likely that we will have new information next week.
We join you in remembering those who served or who serve this great nation, and our office will be closed Monday, May 27.
