Thrifted Treasure Series Part 5 - Vintage Kitchen Tools
Deb Spofford
“No one who cooks cooks alone. Even at their most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.” ~ Laurie Colwin
The inspiration for part 5 of our thrifted treasures series, Vintage Kitchen Tools, came to me at a garage sale last weekend.
These utensils were in a box marked “take all for $5”. I sorted through the box and took what I wanted…wood handled kitchen tools and a few silver serving pieces. I payed $3 for my selection and everyone was happy!
I added the garage sale pieces to my collection from family members and realized I had enough for a blog post!
Scattered throughout the post you will also find vintage recipes from my great aunt’s cookbook. Note the cursive writing and how much the recipes were loved/used by the amount of food stains on their pages!
I feel “surrounded by generations of cooks past” when I leaf through this cookbook…a piece of history…remembering the special christmas cookies my aunt made each year and the time I spent baking with my grandmother (her sister). Do you have similar memories?…cooking with past generations and using some of these kitchen tools? See how many you can identify!
Vintage Kitchen Tools
Sifters of any size are fun decorating items and interesting storage containers…
Use them in the kitchen or laundry room…fill them with dishwasher pods, or clothes pins or laundry soap…or…
…fill them with fresh eggs….
…or turn them into a flower vase!
If you have a collection of vintage tools store them in a metal container with a cloth napkin that compliments your kitchen colors.
Can you guess what these tools were used for?
The ice cream scoop is an easy guess! Carmel/Caramel ice cream anyone?
What about this one?
I love the patent information embossed on the side.
And this one?
The wood handles will give you a clue!
I wonder how many cakes, pies, breads, and meals these tools are responsible for!
Mashed potatoes perhaps?
In order from left to right….masher, masher, batter/egg beater, can opener, scoop, pastry cutter, and a mystery tool!
Do you know what this is?
My best guess is a can opener…but I do not understand how it works! Please let me know if you can identify it!
More vintage recipes…Dill pickles, Scotch Plaid Relish, and Apple Cake!
Red or green handles seem to be the color choice “back in the day” including spice containers!
Do you know what the tool is on the far right? Let me know if you have ever used one of these to make melon balls!
This was found in the back of the cookbook and is a good way to wrap up our post for today…it says…
A Recipe for Home Comfort from 1927
Take a thought of self, 1 part,
2 parts of common sense and broad intelligence.
A large part of the sense of fitness of things,
a healing measure of living above what your neighbors think of you,
twice the quantity of living within your income,
a sprinkling of refinement and beauty
stirred thick with christian principles of the true brand/kindness