Tools From Grandma's Kitchen

Today's Instagram challenge set out by @genealogyphoto  is 'tool'. The first thing I think of when I hear the word 'tool' is hammers, drills, chisels, axes - and things like that. I have not been fortunate enough to inherit any of those things from my grandfathers. But I recently mentioned in another post that my Mom gave me several items that belonged to my great grandmother, Bondell Melson. Among those items were several kitchen utensils. These are the tools I will be writing about. There were several items that I was well aware of their use - -like ladles, tea strainers and infusers, funnels, juicers etc. But a few items were unique and I wanted to share them with you.

First up is this Swedish fish scaler. How my great grandparents got it or where is beyond me. Did they use it? How often? They lived in the Ozark region of Arkansas most all their life, as far as I know. We do have several places to catch fish, mostly ponds, and rivers. The pointy end of this tool would have been used to gut the fish and the serrated portion to scrap off scales.








If you look really closely and tilt it just so you can make out the words ROSTFRITT STAL (Translates - Stainless Steel)  ESKILSTUNA SWEDEN ( is a city in Sweden).

Next up is this spoon and the item I will be sharing on Instagram. It's clearly marked on the handle what it was used for. Its made from aluminum and online research suggests its from the 1940's/50's Back then you didn't buy your ice cream at the store. In fact, it wasn't until this time frame that the household refrigerator even became a thing. Ice cream would've been hand turned, soft, and eaten right away. Often times the community would get together for ice cream socials. I'm not sure the thin aluminum of this scoop would hold up to most of our hard high fat content ice cream today. My sister-in-law wrote about her memories surrounding her great grandparents and how they hand turned their ice cream when she was growing up as part of her recipe prompt yesterday.

Notice how the spoon also says it was for shortening. During that time period shortening or lard would've been used on a regular basis for making everything from pie crusts, biscuits, or frying a batch of chicken. It most likely would've sat on the counter top to be readily available for daily use.

Did the circular opening at the end also serve as a bottle opener?

I can't find hard evidence of what this next item was used for - or if it even had a specific purpose at all. It's about 10" long, possibly hand carved, and I would describe it as a spatula. Was it used to scrape out butter from a churn? Was it hand carved at all? How old is it?



And last but not least is this sifter. The reason I'm including it is because it's unique in my opinion. I've often seen the hand sifters that either have a trigger built into the handle or a hand crank on the side, I've even seen the kind that you just shake up and down to sift but this one has a little decorative loop at the end of the handle that you pivot left and right to scrape or sift your flour. On the side it also has measurements of two cups - full or one cup. One source suggests this is from the 1930's and calls it a primitive hand sifter. That struck me as a little excessive.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else posts today. Yesterday was a lot of fun as well. I've been enjoying sharing this with you and I hope you've enjoyed reading.

If you enjoy family history, I again encourage you to check out my sister-in-law's blog over at Days of Our Lives each time I post. We often blog together and its always fun to see how the same topic can turn out two completely different takes.

Until Next Time,
Becky