Paring machine 1

In Collections: Feeding America: the Historic American Cookbook Project Museum Objects

Historical Note: From The New England Economical Housekeeper by Esther Allen Howland (1845): Paring machines are designed to quickly and easily remove the outer skin or peel from fruits such as apples. According to Linda Campbell Franklin in 300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles (5th edition, 2003) (page 15), "With the advent of cast iron gears in 1850, inventors waged a furious battle to perfect the paring machine. By 1890, after well over 100 patents, home-use parers faded in popularity; most new designs were for larger commercial models." Paring machines ranged from rather simple to elaborate systems of gears and were considered to be great labor-saving devices. They all consisted of some sort of mechanism to turn an apple while it was held against a blade which would peel the skin from the fruit. The first widely known mechanical parer was patented in 1803 and a drawing of it presented in Willich's Domestic Encyclopedia (1803-04) for "rural readers." Apparently many farmers proceeded to make their own based on this drawing. There have been many many patents since then, ranging from simple to complex. Like these examples, mechanical parers are either mounted on a table or board, or are made to screw onto the edge of a table.

Referenced In: The American economical housekeeper, and family receipt book, available at: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m59w93

Related Items: Paring machine 2, available at: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5p26q361
Paring machine 3, available at: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m50c4sk0c
Paring machine 4, available at: https://n2t.net/ark:/85335/m5vm42x48