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.
PinG!..............
ANY IDEAS?..................
It’s a DID ...
That’s a Democrat Improvement Device.
Set the two rollers counter-rotating, and feed democrats through the gap. They’ll come out the other side much improved.
So “no”, I really have no idea what it is.
Note to historical society people: INTERVIEW YOUR DONORS. Record everything they know about the stuff they’re donating.
Something tells me this has something to do with PASTA of some kind................
Well, beat my biscuits! BTW, it's brilliant that it was donated but never documented or catalogued.
Back in my late 90s public television days, we had a show called “What In The World Is It?” Aka WITWIT where people would bring the most oddball antique mystery items to get identified.
The experts were really good and that would be a prime item to have had on there.
Meat tenderizer?
Actually looks like something to put holes or dents in metal sheets.
Why would you want to beat the air out of an innocent biscuit? All that would do is make it taste like cardboard.
I was thinking it might have something to do with laundry.
It was donated nearly 40 years ago, so they may have told the curator at that time but has since died................
I’ve never even heard of that kind of biscuit.............
"What the hell is that?"
Looks like an early piece of chiaropractic equipment to me.
(Ow.)
That’s why you write it down. With a pen. On paper. Then attach a paper copy of the notes to the object.
There was a game show in the late 70’s called “The Liars Club” that was similar to that show....................
Looks like an early piece of chiaropractic equipment to me.
(Ow.)
Related to the Wouff Hong.
Cotton gin
Dents, the protrusions are too rounded to punch holes. I was thinking similarly, like a pegboard maker.
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