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#1 |
Official Plant Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
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This came out of our barn about 30 years ago. Someone said it was for scraping pig hides but.... my family wasn't exactly the hog farmin' type. Someone else said it was for making ravioli but.... I don't think so or it woulda been in the kitchen not the barn. I propped it up on the dog to get better photos. The hot dog shaped parts are about 6.5" in length if that helps gauge size. Is this "useful" for gardening or.... is it another tool for when I'm walking in dark alleys all by myself?
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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss |
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#2 |
Pope
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Virginia
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It is a mezzaluna, a kitchen tool. You would put vegetables or whatever in a wooden bowl and chop them with a rocking motion. Or can be used on a cutting board, but is probably more effective with a bowl. I have one that belonged to my great-grandmother.
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#3 |
Official Plant Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
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I looked it up and that sure is what it sorta looks like, http://www.notquitenigella.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/a-mezzaluna_pistachios.jpg. Looks like it can be used for chopping nuts. Mine's pretty dull.... doesn't even look like it ever had good edges but.... it was out there rusting away for decades so who knows if it ever was sharp. What do you think it was doing out in the barn hung on a peg by the scythes and sickles? They musta been multi-tasking it>>>?
__________________
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss |
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#4 |
Pope
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Virginia
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Your guess is as good as mine, perhaps it was used to chop up something to put in feed for livestock? There are different styles of mezzaluna (Italian for "half-moon," I believe), and the style you have can be found in antique shops, junk stores, etc. I think it dates to around the 1930s or 40s? Possibly earlier. The basic style has been around forever. Some people collect this sort of thing, and may be able to tell you exactly where yours was made, etc.
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#5 |
WG Prize & Gift Coordinator
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Michigan
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I can't believe you've never ran into one of those before...They work very well tenderizing meat as well.
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The successful woman is the woman that had the chance and took it! A walk among the elusive Whitetail Deer |
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#6 |
WG Hospitality & UAOKA recipient
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Pennsylvania
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Cool that you could identify it so quickly. I never know what I'll learn on this site.
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"If suburbia were landscaped with meadows, prairies, thickets or forests, or combinations of these, then the water would sparkle, fish would be good to eat again, birds would sing and human spirits would soar." ~ Lorrie Otto ~ A Native Backyard Blog ~ |
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#7 |
Official Plant Nerd
Join Date: Dec 2008
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If folk used it as a meat tenderizer.... maybe that's why it's dull and was hanging out in the barn. I know our family shot and ate Bambi. I can remember hooks in the rafters on the 1st floor of the barn during hunting season. They'd drag a picnic table in the barn and butcher the deer. Maybe they used it to tenderize some cuts of meat>>>? Could have been used to chop corn.... there were some chickens running around. I guess why it was in the barn is gonna be a mystery since noone's alive who could tell me.
-- hava> I woulda never made the connection. The one I have at home is single edged and sharp. It rocks and I do use it but the one out in the barn threw me for a loop. It was hanging there for years rusting and collecting dust.
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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss |
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#8 |
WG Prize & Gift Coordinator
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Michigan
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In a pinch you can use them for cutting in butter (in an up and down chopping motion) as in making the dough for pie shells.
__________________
The successful woman is the woman that had the chance and took it! A walk among the elusive Whitetail Deer |
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#9 | |
POM Judge & Official Non Gardener
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
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