✅ SOLVED An item that has stumped all to date

Jeff95531 · Oct 12, 2015

Back in the 70's my Dad bought an old bar in Warren Idaho...an old gold mining town. Under the bar on a shelf was this...

And although it wasn't found with a metal detector, I know at least some of you are up for a challenge. :thumbsup:

war-digs-it · Oct 12, 2015

It's some type of fruit press. I don't believe it is complete...

fyrffytr1 · Oct 12, 2015

I found this information. Doesn't narrow it down a whole lot but I think we can eliminate toy cars and concentrate on farm machinery or gas pumps.

Arcade Manufacturing Company

Freeport, IL

1868-1946

Die-cast cars, farm equipment, gasoline pumps

AlabamaRelic · Oct 12, 2015

A juicer

Mud Hut · Oct 12, 2015

With those internal burrs, I am going out on a limb and suggest that it is part of an old Arcade Coffee Grinder.

Jeff95531 · Oct 12, 2015

All good thoughts. After 45 years of hauling it around, I'd really like to know what the heck it was/is

cw0909 · Oct 12, 2015

i think mud hut has it, its prob a part of a grinder,maybe from one
of the 1920s models see link

history
Arcade Manufacturing Co. - History | VintageMachinery.org

grinders
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=arcade+grinder

Jeff95531 · Oct 12, 2015

Found this too. The most obvious difference being the metal reservoir rather than glass.

Arcade Manufacturing Inc.: 1885 - 1945 | eBay

BigWaveDave · Oct 12, 2015

How awesome is Tnet?....45 years of wondering what you got....solved in 2 hours!

RustyGold · Oct 12, 2015

Ice crusher for drinks?

Back-of-the-boat · Oct 12, 2015

It mounts like an old meat grinder would, to a table.And that would put the seam up and down. The cone shaped half would be the perfect shape to hold fruit and the geared part would have had a handle that is missing along with the part for pressing the fruit, the juice would have come out of seam into bowl or pitcher. I am with Alabama relic and war-digs-it as something for fruit.Would be real small amount of coffee grounds.

Jeff95531 · Oct 12, 2015

With a handle, the aggressive and steep pitch on the rifling would likely allow juicing...more likely than coffee beans I think too.

In the first pic, it says it was made for Arcade. Any old timers in Freeport Illinois remember Arcade's stuff?

Anduril · Oct 12, 2015

I'm curious about this too!
Can you please post another picture flat, with the "National" text facing up? (i.e., won't be visible)
I would like to see both sides of the hinged part, specifically the bottom of the hinge area - is there space for product or liquid to fall out of the device?
It does appear (from what I can see) that the inside of one half of the 'egg shaped' portion is contoured to allow something to flow out of the device. (?!)

Also, can you tell if the little black "twist screw" was designed to hold another appurtenance or apparatus in place?
I'm trying to decide what function this side screw serves. (Not the large thumb-handle turn screw to attach the device to a countertop.)

I'm not convinced this is a coffee grinder.
It appears to be designed to operate horizontally (and a much simpler version could be made vertically! - and has been many times over!!).
In a horizontal position, the coffee grounds would go everywhere - they would not stay in the 'egg' portion.
Furthermore, it would be impractical to try to close the lid (i.e., the two half 'egg' parts) without coffee beans flying everywhere.
Also, the large diameter internal screw thread has a set travel distance and no more. (You could not grind away on this thing until the cows came home!)
It also has a fairly aggressive kerf, meaning whatever screws in here is designed to install in a hurry. Looks to be about 3 turns, max.
And why the 'egg' shape? Maybe this contraption was made in the Art Deco days? I wonder if the egg shape is important to its function?

It's almost like this thing is designed to hold something to be operated on manually, with the product exiting the bottom of the device.
But whatever that something is, it's inserted into the machine before the egg lid is clamped shut, and is then either operated upon all at once, or possibly throughout the day (which means it would be designed so as not to drip, spill, dispense, etc.. until the operator of the device does something. Also, it would have to be non-perishable.

Likewise, a fruit press doesn't look right either. It would be pretty difficult to operate, and again, there are much simpler ways to do that job in a vertical format.
It's not clear to me that the hinge and closure clasp are well suited to the forces that might be applied during a pressing operation - especially considering the cross-section diameter of the large internal threaded section. Plus, the acids in some fruits will chemically react with the metal, causing them to taste funny, and could damage the equipment over time (pitting, etc..)

Maybe there is too much information here? Maybe the fact that it was found underneath a bar doesn't have anything to do with its function or purpose?
That said, the 'look' of the metal screams restaurant appliance of some sort. ?? Did the saloon have an attached restaurant of any kind? Any idea of the kinds of foods they might have served?

"Yes." This "might" be a coffee grinder - but I didn't see any online that even remotely look like this, and as I've already mentioned - this looks too unweildly to be a coffee grinder. I also agree it is missing some parts (for starters, whatever goes in the screw thread section).

I tried to think of what other kinds of bartender's applicances might be kept under a bar -- but none of them seem to "fit" this device very well:
Champagne or wine bottle cork puller? - No.
Bottle opener with retainer? - Not horizontal anyway.
Nut cracker or grinder of any sort? - Possibly, buy why this way?
Something to form objects into a half-egg shape? - Seems pretty unlikely.

This is the sort of thing that once you know what it is, it'll be like "Duh, well of course that's what it is!" :dontknow:

Back-of-the-boat · Oct 13, 2015

One other thought is it could have been an Apple corer.twist the handle that is missing and it turned a blade that removed the Apples core.Although I think it might be too small to hold an Apple.

Back-of-the-boat · Oct 13, 2015

Is there a patent number anywhere on it? A lot of items have been figured out by that.

ARC · Oct 13, 2015

Arcade Manufacturing Inc.: 1885 - 1945...

1868: Founded as the Novelty Iron Works by Edward H. and Charles Morgan in 1868, conducted business in two small buildings with a staff of ten people.

1874: The company expanded and erected a larger structure at the cost of $25,000. They continued at the new location until 1885, when the Novelty Iron Works was discontinued and reorganized as the Arcade Manufacturing Company by Albert Baumgarten, Cyrus Tobias and Edward H. Morgan.

1885: Arcade Manufacturing was incorporated and originally occupied a one-story building on Chicago Street in Freeport. The company grew and prospered, becoming well-known for producing high-quality cast iron coffee mills, spring hinges, cork extractors and stove dampers.

1891: The company moved their location but that building was destroyed by fire in 1892. Construction began on a new factory and foundry immediately. Operations were resumed in 1893 at a newly platted site which became known as the Arcade Addition. Local Freeporters still refer to this area of town as "The Arcade."

1896: The first products of Arcade were a cork extractor and a screen door hinge, but within two years they began assembling box type coffee mills. Later the product line included lid lifters, small notions and novelties. Arcade produced a lot of "Champion" barscrews. They are frequently found marked CHAMPION, PAT. SEPT. 7, 1897 and DES. PAT. JUN 9, 1896 for patents issued to Michael Redlinger.

1897: Important inventions by Edgar and Charles Morgan in the late 1800s enabled the company to introduce a variety of attractive wall mills. These included their Telephone Mills, their X-Ray and Royal models, the Jewel, the Bell, and the Golden Rule, among others. Production of coffee mills continued until well into the 1930s. Arcade's most popular mill, "The Crystal" was first made after the turn of the 20th century.

1900: Mills were mounted on boards to make them easier to attach to the side of a kitchen cabinet. The toleware metal bean hopper was an attempt by Arcade in the early 20th century to gain some of the market share held by companies like Enterprise, who made similar items but the Crystal proved so much more popular, that Arcade didn't produce this one for very long.

1900s: The Arcade Company is most famous for its cast iron toys. Their toys included doll houses and furniture, cars, trucks, buses, planes, farm vehicles and pint-sized farm tools sturdy enough to use in an actual garden.

Ant · Oct 13, 2015

So it looks like it turns out to be a cork puller, dang good work AARC.

ARC · Oct 13, 2015

Well I tell ya... when I first looked at it...just by the design... I thought it was a bar mounted "lemon/lime" "screw"... or Juicer.
The side half opens to discard peel etc...
Drink would be held under and screw is tightened from time to time as drinks were made etc.

Obviously in this scenario the "screw" part is missing...

Cork puller is the "closest fit"... IF this is in fact NOT missing a part/screw etc.

Jeff95531 · Oct 13, 2015

Cork puller does make the most sense. There is a least one piece missing where the small set key is. The "rod" would not go all the way thru tho, just hang down. For a cork receptacle