A 'Gem' of a find...

Last week The Record Man at the market bought us a whole load of mixed boxes at auction. We sorted through them, keeping the best vintage and retro items for our stall, and donating the rest to friends and charity (incidentally, if you have a thing for clown figurines head down to Arthur Rank on Regent St...).

Over the next few weeks we'll be stocking our stall and online emporium with the best finds and sharing them with you here on the blog.

My favourite item has to be this antique food chopper. When we very first started Retrovert someone asked us to keep an eye out for an old fashioned mincer and we've finally got one. This one is a particular 'gem'...

The American company Sargent and Co patented the 'Gem Food Chopper' in 1899, hailing it as a "kitchen necessity"

I'm not sure if this is its original box as its quite a tight fit, but it looks great nevertheless. The chopper still has its five steel cutters for varying degrees of chopping. Sadly, we don't have the Nut Butter Cutter and Sausage Stuffer which could be "furnished at a slight additional cost".

The thing I like most is the cookbook that comes with the chopper. Choice advertising phrases include:

"Help the help. Explain the working of Sargent's Gem Food Chopper to the cook; she will appreciate it."

"Every bride-that-is-to-be should purchase or the new home Sargent's Gem Food Chopper. It is not necessary for her to learn the old chopping-bowl-and-knife  method; the Gem Chopper is better"

"Uncle Sam is proud of Sargent's Gem Food Chopper, and wants all the nations of the earth to know that this useful kitchen utensil is needed by housekeepers in all climes."

There are over 200 recipes for getting the most out of the Gem Chopper. The instructions are fun to read - they even use Gem-Chop as a verb.

I've been thinking of starting a regular feature on vintage recipes and baking, perhaps I will use one of these recipes for my first one. I may even use the Gem Chopper itself!