Posted on 10/30/2024 12:52:22 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Dorchester County Historical Society is trying to identify a mystery machine that has been in storage since the 1990s and includes components believed to be about 100 years old. Photo courtesy of the Dorchester County Historical Society/Facebook
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Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Historians in Maryland are seeking the public's help to identify a mysterious machine donated to a museum in the 1990s.
The Dorchester County Historical Society posted photos to social media showing a machine composed of a flat ceramic counter top and two spinning objects that resemble rolling pins.
The contraption was donated to the historical society's Neild Museum in the 1990s and has been in storage since.
"Can you identify this machine? It has a new motor but everything else is around 100 years old. What local industry would have used it?" the Facebook post said.
Zoe Phillips, executive director of the historical society, said one theory being pursued by historians is the possibility that the machine was intended to make beaten biscuits, which were once popular in Maryland and were known for their dense texture.
She said it may have been intended to simplify the dough-making process, which traditionally involved using an ax to beat the dough on a stump to remove air pockets.
"We potentially think it was a Maryland beaten biscuit maker," Phillips told WBOC-TV. "Created by a man who was trying to help his aunt with the business, and the belief is that this would've helped beat the air out of the dough as the biscuits were being created."
Other possibilities suggested in the comments of the Facebook post include a meat tenderizer and a leather-working tool.
Bulloni
Looks like a “Beaten Biscuit” machine to me.
Those darned kids!.......................
Did you get that from reading the article, or from your own life and experience?
Part of the Appolo program?
early model lie detector...
A Bubble Wrap Popper? Some prefer to get the noise over and done with, before the kids get a hold of any leftover bubble wrap. It makes quite a clatter. You’d think somebody was making popcorn in the next room!
Apollo
So, that’s how they used to beat their biscuits? Kinky.
4th Generation Eastern Shoreman here. Beaten biscuits are a thing. Round about the size of a golf ball, very dense, good with butter. And yes, that is a machine to make them.
Alot of possibilities. Are they sure that all the pieces are there? There could have been attachments that would have made identification easier that have been cannibalized.
I did a “lens” on it. Could be an etching press.
It's a White Castle hamburger paddy maker........
They refer to hardtack alot in "In the Heart of the Sea" a true story about The Essex whaling ship and "The Great White Whale"
People often used a hammer on beaten biscuits.
They’re not like regular ‘biscuits’ - not fluffy and airy.
But a machine for them wouldn’t look like that, but more like an old clothes mangle or ‘wringer’:
https://oldlineplate.com/maryland-beaten-biscuits/
Could it be to “join” several layers of something together? Or the dents could be filled with jam...or ravioli filling. To me, the ceramic counter top indicates food prep. The rollers are heavy-duty, maybe for large slabs of meat.
Hardtack was a common food for long journeys on land as well...............
Obviously, it is a Lazamataz 9000, a rare — but effective — automated Hitting-It machine.
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