# Can anyone identify this old gadget? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 29, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688 "2019-05-29T02:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/121 "2019-06-01T01:45:32Z")
Sorry, but unless they can produce a photo of something similar to the original post, I’m not buying it. None of the butter curlers I found looked even remotely similar, and I don’t see how the object in the OP could function as a butter curler. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/122 "2019-06-01T02:24:36Z")
did you look at \*\*jasg’\*\*s link? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/123 "2019-06-01T02:28:43Z")
[Here’s](https://i.imgur.com/i1iJV1F.jpg) the photo of the mystery gadget turned upside-down, which makes it easier to conceptualize how it might have been used. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/124 "2019-06-01T02:45:48Z")
I’ve emailed **Tomyros** to ask him the favour of posting a link to a photo or video of his implement. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/125 "2019-06-01T02:53:07Z")
Looking at the wide variety of butter curler images online I have no doubt the object in question would work as a butter curler. Cruver Manufacturing made lots of campaign materials, most of them buttons. They would not have been making the world’s best butter curler as a campaign trinket, they would have made something simple and inexpensive, like the object in question. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/126 "2019-06-01T04:45:50Z")
I don’t think that it would work as a butter curler, which seem to be of two types: a curved blade with a scalloped or serrated edge, to cut broad butter ‘shavings’, or a flat blade with multiple pierced holes to cut butter ‘spaghetti’. This thing lacks the serrated, curved blade that can cut a shaving, and the holes are too far from the edge (and not enough in number) to make good ‘spaghetti’. For the OP: can you ask if there are marks on the inside of the curved ‘handle’ portion? Something to indicate that it may have been crimped onto something else or slipped over something else? Anything like scratches or glue residue or polished spots or such? I still favor the idea of it being slipped over some other item, along the lines of [this brush](https://www.humboldtmfg.com/sieve-brush-coarse-mesh.html) or [this whisk broom](https://www.mrmtool.com/Whisk-Broom-%E2%80%A2-Palmyra-Fill-Wire-Loop-Handle_p_6659.html). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/127 "2019-06-01T04:54:50Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > I don’t think that it would work as a butter curler, which seem to be of two types: a curved blade with a scalloped or serrated edge, to cut broad butter ‘shavings’, or a flat blade with multiple pierced holes to cut butter ‘spaghetti’. This thing lacks the serrated, curved blade that can cut a shaving, and the holes are too far from the edge (and not enough in number) to make good ‘spaghetti’. I share your skepticism about the butter curler idea. This thing is just stamped out of a flat sheet - if you look closely at the second photo, the business end does not have any kind of sharp edge, nor do the holes. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/128 "2019-06-01T04:58:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > New idea; it doesn’t do anything but that’s the point. Not a new idea, it was suggested earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/129 "2019-06-01T05:01:56Z")
Here’s a great piece on a variety of vintage butter curlers, showing what they produce: > **[Vintage Butter Curlers](https://kitchenalia-blog.tumblr.com/post/102219642534/vintage-butter-curlers/amp)** > > The Butter Curler > > > “A butter curler is a kitchen tool designed to produce decorative butter shapes for use in food decoration. It can also be used to make chocolate and wax shavings. In typical use, the material to be cut is chilled slightly while... It may not be comprehensive, but it’s interesting. ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/130 "2019-06-01T05:02:24Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > After looking at dozens of pictures of butter curlers, there is enough variety that makes it a plausible candidate. That being said, I saw no butter curlers that looked just like the one in the OP. I don’t see any just like it, but I found this… [https://www.amazon.com/Multi-function-Stainless-Shredding-Vegetables-Cheese-Silvery/dp/B07CWL165D](https://www.amazon.com/Multi-function-Stainless-Shredding-Vegetables-Cheese-Silvery/dp/B07CWL165D) It’s the shape of a butter knife, but it has holes kinda like the object and the pix show how the holes work.🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/131 "2019-06-01T05:08:05Z")
Okay, I don’t know Schwartz as a man, but the fact that he was willing to put his name on a small and rather ordinary version of an obscure kitchen gadget speaks to me more about his fitness to be Coroner than any education, experience or managerial or medico-legal skill that he may have had. Today’s politicians could learn something from Schwartz and other politicians of yore. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/132 "2019-06-01T05:19:37Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Okay, I don’t know Schwartz as a man, but the fact that he was willing to put his name on a small and rather ordinary version of an obscure kitchen gadget speaks to me more about his fitness to be Coroner than any education, experience or managerial or medico-legal skill that he may have had. Today’s politicians could learn something from Schwartz and other politicians of yore. Read more about him [here](https://img.newspapers.com/img/img?institutionId=0&user=0&id=146823296&width=557&height=449&crop=215_4148_1793_1474&rotation=0&brightness=0&contrast=0&invert=0&ts=1559366073&h=6b6ec845168f5a58f8090769762cea5a). Could it be something to do with the undertaking industry? ---
**Author:** ![Tomyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/858c86/32.png) [@Tomyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomyros)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/133 "2019-06-01T06:17:34Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > I don’t see any just like it, but I found this… [https://www.amazon.com/Multi-function-Stainless-Shredding-Vegetables-Cheese-Silvery/dp/B07CWL165D](https://www.amazon.com/Multi-function-Stainless-Shredding-Vegetables-Cheese-Silvery/dp/B07CWL165D) > > It’s the shape of a butter knife, but it has holes kinda like the object and the pix show how the holes work.🆒 The stainless steel one is the exact image of mine except mine has a yellow and white rubberized handle. I have had this one over 20 years. So easy to make sandwiches…one swipe per slice, and ice cakes with patterns. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/134 "2019-06-01T06:23:56Z")
Probably too late to matter (Yay!) but the curio’s curator confirms the object clings to a magnet. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/135 "2019-06-01T17:25:17Z")
Compare the object in question to the curled blade of [this butter curler.](http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/treen-butter-curler/332610) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/136 "2019-06-01T17:45:57Z")
I think “butter curler” is the correct answer. Keep in mind that it was a cheap campaign freebie gadget, never intended to be a fully functional heirloom quality utensil, more likely a mildly humourous approximation of the real thing. I’ve already suggested the curator try curling butter with it. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/137 "2019-06-01T18:21:16Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > I think “butter curler” is the correct answer. Keep in mind that it was a cheap campaign freebie gadget, never intended to be a fully functional heirloom quality utensil, more likely a mildly humourous approximation of the real thing. I’ve already suggested the curator try curling butter with it. I have to agree. It’s just the kind of thing that someone living in rural Missouri in the 1920s would instinctively know was it was for but a 21st Century urbanite wouldn’t have a clue about. I guess it just goes to show how rapidly technology is advancing. It makes me wonder just how many 17th Century (or even 16th) items that would be easily understood by contemporaries but would befuddle someone from the 1920s? Probably not many. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/138 "2019-06-01T18:25:16Z")
It doesn’t look like the kind of metal that would be good for coming into contact with food, in my opinion. It looks like it would rust. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/139 "2019-06-01T18:39:49Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > It doesn’t look like the kind of metal that would be good for coming into contact with food, in my opinion. It looks like it would rust. It’s not a fine culinary tool. It was a give-away in an election. It is probably made from the same material that Cluver used to make thousands of campaign buttons. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688/140 "2019-06-01T18:53:03Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > It doesn’t look like the kind of metal that would be good for coming into contact with food, in my opinion. It looks like it would rust. Bzzzt. The one we’ve been talking about throughout this thread hasn’t rusted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anyone-identify-this-old-gadget/834688.md?page=8)