Kitchen Time Capsule from 1998

[altivo]

New year's quiz. Went looking for something among stored items in the big barn. Actually found it (miracle!) along with the other stuff in this photo. Posted in lieu of the customary review of the year now ending...

Kitchen time capsule The pictured items were extracted from a box that had been stored in the barn for about seven years. It contained items removed from the kitchen junk drawer in our previous house, which we occupied from 1984 through 1998. How many of the numbered implements of torture can you identify? (Click on photo for closer view.)

1. Honey dripper. Drips real good.
2. Shishkebab skewers. There were many of these.
3. Appliance cord shortener. Wrap excess cord between hooks.
4. Ceramic grater for ginger root.
5. Lemon slice squeezer disguised as bird.
6. Pouring spout that screws into a milk or juice carton.
7. Strawberry huller. Did anyone get this one?
8. Vegetable peeler.
9. Sardine and anchovy can keys. Years since you needed these.
10. Tea balls or infusers. To hold loose tea leaves in the pot.
11. Coffee measuring scoops. Used to come in the can or bag.
12. Orange peeling tool. Never worked well.
13. Keys that slide onto the end of toothpaste type tubes. For rolling up.
14. Another orange peeling tool. This never worked either.
15. Cocktail forks. To get olives, onions, or cherries out of jar.
16. Spaghetti measure. Don't ask me how, but that's what it says.
17. Serrated grapefruit sectioners. I use a steak knife usually.
18. Another tea infuser, for single cup use. Silver plated!
19. Thumbscrew? No, a clamp to shut off a siphon hose.
20. Pet food can cover. Possibly the only one of these things still made today.

For bonus points, identify the blade with the hole in one end and screw on the other end, located between 13 and 15. We don't know what it was for. Mate suggests that you screw one end into a radish or carrot and rotate it to make long curled slices. I'm doubtful.

Anyway, happy new year everyone. May all the best things happen to you in 2006, and may the Dept. of Homeland Security burn to ashes in the flames of the current scandals.

Comments

[cnipur.livejournal.com]

I only got about 5... I feel so young!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That's because you are young. Don't worry, it won't last. *hugs*

[space-wolf.livejournal.com]

2,10,11,15,18 are all in use at my house right here.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, some are still common. Though trying to find replacements for some can be difficult. We broke a teapot a couple of years ago and had a terrible time finding another. Store clerks didn't even know what a teapot is. They only had tea kettles. Good tea infusers like those big ones (10) are impossible to get around here now. In fact, those were what I was looking for. We used to drink loose tea all the time, then we couldn't get it any more. Only tea bags. Well, for Christmas we got some really nice cinnamon tea in loose form, and realized we hadn't seen the tea infusers since we moved seven years ago...

[dogteam.livejournal.com]

Mm. I got most except the orange and grapefruit thingys.
I only found out recently, through tea-lovers here on LJ, what a dearth of tea and tea-related items there is in the U.S.
Loose tea? Seems to be unheard of. Infusers? Good luck. I had no idea it would be hard to find a teapot, though.
Canada, being of largely British heritage, doesn't suffer from a lack of same. We have loose tea shops, and infusers are common(although they've suffered in quality from the "Let's get it from China cheaper" syndrome).

Perhaps I should sell Brown Betty's on eBay? ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I should sell Brown Betty's on eBay?

You might find a market. I admit I didn't look there when we were searching, because we wanted something immediately. Had to settle for a "Martha Stewart" teapot and it was awful. Loose lid, drippy spout. It's still here gathering dust somewhere. But we got a better one a couple of weeks later. It was being given away as a "special gift" at a local supermarket if you bought more than some amount of groceries.

USians do still drink tea, but we are mostly pretty ignorant about it. Celestial Seasonings and Bigelow are considered the top of the line. ;) It all comes in tea bags, and I guess most of it is prepared one cup at a time. Iced tea is much more popular than hot tea. I occasionally get whole coffee beans from a shop in Chicago that will ship by mail. They also sell good quality loose teas. Supermarkets here have only tea bags. When friends go to Canada or the UK and ask what they can bring back for us, we invariably ask for tea. :) I do like some of the Celestial Seasonings herbals, and Tetley's British Blend, which we can get in teabags (round ones.) But the good stuff is almost always from non-US packers.

[farhoug.livejournal.com]

Heh, my eye caught on some local review of Christmas tea blends, one of those imported ones was from Celestial Seasonings. It was the most expensive from those selected to the test, and I think it ended last in that test too... =)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair, Celestial Seasonings started as a health food company with a focus on non-caffeinated, natural herbal tea substitutes. Some of their products that feature raspberry leaves, citrus peels, or mint are actually quite pleasant.

More recent attempts to go head to head with familiar black teas or even coffee are, to put it politely, not so nice.

[farhoug.livejournal.com]

I think it was based on some traditional black tea, with the spices of the season added to it. And for the price, well, if the ingredients are first imported to US, and then to Europe, it's no wonder really...

[dogteam.livejournal.com]

If you want to try some really fine loose teas, the only place to go is Murchie's, in B.C.
They have a web site and sell mail order. Try an Oolong.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip, I'll check them out. I've suddenly developed a craving for some Lapsang Souchong. Haven't seen that in years.

And now I'm reminded of a line in The Rise of Silas Lapham where the family sat about in the parlor "drinking Oolong because they weren't sophisticated enough for Lapsang Souchong." William Dean Howells. Good grief.

My favorite supplier at one time was McNulty's in New York City. I should see if they are still around...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Ack. Found it. It's amazing what a collection of useless trivia the mind can be. From chapter 2:

"Well, I'll do the wash, as I used to in Lumberville," said Mrs. Lapham. "I presume you'll let me have set tubs, Si. You know I ain't so young any more." She passed Irene a cup of Oolong tea,--none of them had a sufficiently cultivated palate for Souchong,--and the girl handed it to her father. "Papa," she asked, "you don't really mean that you're going to build over there?"

"Don't I? You wait and see," said the Colonel, stirring his tea.

The Rise of Silas Lapham by William Dean Howells, 1885

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Lets see... 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 15, and 18 I got right ^^

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You got number 9? I'm impressed. Even I had forgotten that those things existed. They were years obsolete when the box was stored. Also quite rusty now. I didn't save them after taking the photo. Nor the (unnumbered) plastic tags from bread bags that are in the same little compartment of the organizer. I have no idea what we were saving those for.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

My grnadmother has a nice store of them... I always joked that they look like the pins you use to hold something down when you dissect it in biology...

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

Oh and 1, 2, 4, 8, 15, and 20 are all still made today... some of the others may be as well.

[nekura-ca.livejournal.com]

3 I thought was a clothesline hook, 4 I knew was for grating something, I didn't know what though, 5, 7, and 16 totally stumped me, but I recognized everything else.

And yes, that screw blade thing is for slicing carrots, potatoes, or anything else you want into a long, curly thing. I'm not sure what the point of doing so was, but it's there.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I yield to your superior knowledge about the mystery blade. Maybe I'll try it and see if it works. I have no idea how it came to be there.

[farhoug.livejournal.com]

Hmm, some of those remind me of Tupperware... that number 14, orange peeler, for one. I wonder if there are still some leftover plastic cups in the cupboards somewhere that got bought from those gatherings back in the 80s... =)

Recognized most of those, except the more unusual ones like the "bird squeezer", ginger grater... and I still don't quite understand the use of that strawberry huller?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The two green grapefruit cutters are in fact Tupperware. The orange pieces, however, are not. And because Tupperware's design for an orange peeling tool was patented, they had to use different and inferior approaches.

The bird squeezer is clever and silly at once. It opens up, you drop a slice of lemon into its belly, and close back up. Squeezing the tails together puts pressure on the lemon, and juice drips out the beak. Sort of gross when you think about it.

The strawberry huller is a fine example of an invention that is not needed. Its supposed purpose is to remove the stem and calyx from a strawberry, which of course can be done with your fingers or any sharp knife. The rounded metal end is actually a concave disk with sharp little serrations areound the edge and is supposed to scoop out the stem and leaves neatly and quickly. If the strawberry is ripe, it actually makes a mess of it, though. My mate is a sucker for gadgetry, and often acquires these things only to find that they do nothing that couldn't be done more easily with simpler techniques. :)

[farhoug.livejournal.com]

I'll have to say that I have that curious interest in gadgets too, though I'm always too cheapskate to ever buy any of those things. =)

With ripe strawberries, removing the stem with fingers tends to be a bit messy too, but once the right touch is found, it's definitely easier than using any tool for that. But it's a curious item anyway, never seen one even though I've been living most of my life in the area full of strawberry fields. Even ended up working on those fields for a few days, though that job wasn't meant for me, all I got there was an achy back and a sunburn. =)

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

The honey thing is the only thing I got! Though if I'd actually spotted the dog food tin cover, of course I'd have known it. We have plenty.

Having never eaten sardines, I was most glad to find out what keys for those look like. Yay! :D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I'd have expected a true Brit like you to recognize the tea infusers, even if you don't use them yourself. I didn't put the tea strainer in the picture, I thought it too obvious.

Sardines and anchovies over here no longer require those keys. The containers are aluminum rather than steel now, and have pull tabs. Opening them with the key was a bit of an adventure. Sometimes the tab would just break off and there you'd stand with a puzzled look on your face. I've also seen people put the key on wrong way round, and after a couple of turns it would run into the tin and could no longer be twisted (they work at a 45 degree angle to the long axis of the tin.)

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

*looks over shoulder and whispers* I'm a terrible Brit. I don't drink tea. Or eat honey, actually. :D

[hgryphon.livejournal.com]

I knew them all! And it has nothing to do with kitchen familiarity that can only come from cooking school...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I think some of them, particularly the grapefruit and orange tools and the strawberry huller, have a distinctly unpleasant look about them. Rather like Klingon weapons (well, for tiny Klingons) or something.

[hgryphon.livejournal.com]

Most things in a kitchen can conceivably do unpleasant things to people. ;)

[kamodragon.livejournal.com]

Interesting, that retro lookin' stuff was all around my house when I was growing up... Some of the stuff we use is prolly worth more than we know now adays!!

P.S.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

I just showed this to my mum, who likes oddities. She knew loads of them, though thought the cocktail forks were fondue forks (same difference) and thought of nutmeg grating before ginger.

She also says to tell you that she'll have to wonder about that mystery implement all day now. *g*

Re: P.S.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The cocktail forks are rather like fondue forks but much tinier. As I recall from when it was last a fad, fondue forks are quite large, 20 cm or so in length. These little guys are under 6 cm. Fondue forks for mice, maybe.

The ginger grater only works with fresh, crisp root things like ginger or carrot. It takes a metal grater to cut into a nutmeg. The advantage of the ceramic gadget is that it has no holes to clog up with the sticky bits of root.

nekura_ca confirms that my mate was right about the mystery item. I'll have to waste a perfectly good carrot and try it out. ;p

Re: P.S.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Core!

I mean, cor!

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I missed a few, such as the sardine can keys. I just thought 'skeleton keys' or something. I mistook the cocktail forks for fondue forks. #19 just baffled me.

As for the bonus point item; it's a spiral cutter/slicer. Stick the end into a potato or whatever, put a finger through the hole and turn it around and around. The end result is a long spiral, generally useful only for garnishing stuff. Heck, I even remember seeing those things as free 'bonus gifts' when you'd order some RonCo item back in the 70's and 80's.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well that's enlightening. Especially the RonCo note, as mate was at one time a sucker for those items. I'm going to have to try that thing out, but I'll bet it works about as well as other Popeil inventions, which is to say, not.

One of our dinner guests yesterday came up with a more exotic possibility for it, one that was almost right. There's a type of cheese called "Tete de Moines" that comes in barrel shapes about six inches in diameter. It's quite firm and is traditionally served by using a special cutting mill. The cheese is skewered on a vertical post, and a blade something like this gadget is dropped down over the end of the post. You rotate the blade to scrape off a paper thin curl of the cheese. I'm a bit of a cheese aficionado but I hadn't heard of that one. The Cheese reference was pulled out and indeed it exists just as described. The cutting mill, however, is quite different (and very elaborate) compared to this simple blade.

Item 19 is a giveaway to those who have spent hours in a chemistry lab, and a puzzle to everyone else. We know it was purchased at American Science Center, from amongst their surplus laboratory glass and such. We used it to cut off the siphon tube when decanting home made wine from a carboy into individual bottles for storage.

[murakozi.livejournal.com]

I give myself credit as being correct for #3 because my first thought was that it was a cord wrap, but then I decided that wasn't what it really was, since those are all kitchen items. I've just never found a situation where a cord was too long in the kitchen. Usually, it's been more a matter of not having appliances where I really want them because the darned power cords are too *short* to reach an outlet.

I should've known what #4 was. I remember seeing one in the kitchen when I was growing up. I incorrectly identified it as a lemon zester though.

#16, the spaghetti measure, was a lucky guess for me. I've never felt the need for one, myself. Basically, you grab some uncooked spaghetti and use the measure to determine how much to cook for x number of servinvs. A 'column' of spaghetti as wide as the narrower notch on that is probably supposed to be 1 serving's worth, with the wider section being 2 servings. most of the ones I've seen have had round holes instead of that stepped notch type design.

I haven't seen those taps like #6 since the 70's. I remember chunking those things into milk cartons. I also seem to recall news stories about people using 'em during the energy crisis to tap the fuel tank in their neighbor's cars so they could draw off a free gallon now and then.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

In our present kitchen, there are plenty of outlets. Appliances that stay plugged in all the time, such as the coffee maker, can indeed use short or shortened cords.

Yes, I've seen the spaghetti measures with round holes in them, and in fact there are probably two or three of them in the drawer. I didn't remember this odd one, though, and it seems less easy to use.

The milk spout never worked well for us, but that might be because we wanted to use it with orange juice in cartons. He likes the OJ with pulp, which immediately clogs the screw in part of the spout. I hadn't heard of the gasoline exploit. ;p