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.
I was thinking no way a biscuit beater, too unsanitary looking for food, eyeing those connection points of the metal roller and that other gadget, but then I ran across this article about making beaten biscuits and this picture and well, looks kinda like that could be it.
https://gardenandgun.com/articles/a-kentucky-poet-savors-a-biscuit-brake/
It is definitely not a Gonkulator.
I was thinking pizza dough
Yes, that predates the fully digital Lazatron.
It is a very primitive Encabulator. Long before the much-improved Turbo Encabulator. It looks like the six hydrocoptic marzlevanes are missing.
Like to see it in action. Decent sized motor, it doesn’t appear to have many if any controls, so I’m thinking that knobby bar would move at a fairly good rate.
It may have be used to move something along ? Feeding a sheet or panel of some sort along ?
It may have be used to move something along ? Feeding a sheet or panel of some sort along ?
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The first thing that comes to mind is a raw sheep wool separator.
Do they wear wife-beaters while making them?
That sounds reasonable , the knobs would penetrate enough to provide enough traction to move a mass of wool.
obviously custom made (and poorly made) for a simple and primitive factory line. Not food. Not fabric. High speed. High power.
ravioli maker?
At first glance before I read the article I thought leather punch. I’m a tiny bit impressed with myself.
P.S. beaten biscuits sound rough!
Are they chewy or crumbly?
I think it was a unique leather-softening table or something similar to that.
I was thinking along the lines of leather tanning process, working and stretching it, continuously running it back through.
True and let’s not rule out German origins, like a variant of their nubbenzeklanken machine. Dual purpose for pounding out schnitzel patties or peen hardening axle shafts.
It’s a press for making original cast iron Legos. Stepping on one barefooted can break one’s foot off.
Or perhaps a hand rolling mill for clay tiles. Smooth on one side, indents on the other for firm adhesion.
ChatGpt:
The machine in the image is a vintage manual printing press. This type of press was traditionally used for various forms of printmaking, like etching, lithography, or linocut printing. It works by pressing a sheet of paper firmly against an inked printing plate or block, transferring the design onto the paper.
The crank and rollers suggest it may be specifically a relief or intaglio press, where a hand crank turns rollers that apply pressure as the plate and paper pass through. This press likely served artists or small print shops for limited-run prints.
Mystery Solved!
Maryland historical society finally identifies 100-year-old mystery machine
“We potentially think it was a Maryland beaten biscuit maker created by a man who was trying to help his aunt with [her] business,” Phillips told WBOC. “[T]he belief is that this would’ve helped beat the air out of the dough as the biscuits were being created.”
On November 1st, Phillips said Dorchester County could finally close the case: The machine is, in fact, a mechanical beaten biscuit maker.
“The man who transported it to our Society confirmed it was the same machine he brought here from its previous home in 1992,” Phillips said in an email to Popular Science.”
https://www.popsci.com/technology/biscuit-machine-mystery/
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