Antique and Vintage Rolling Pins

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Rolling pins are perhaps the earliest known kitchen baking utensils, documented in the hand of a baker in a 17th century illustration, although the concept may go back to ancient times. That 1600s image depicted a basic design that has not...
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Rolling pins are perhaps the earliest known kitchen baking utensils, documented in the hand of a baker in a 17th century illustration, although the concept may go back to ancient times. That 1600s image depicted a basic design that has not altered much in hundreds of years. Early rolling pins were made of turned wood. Sometimes the ends were tapered like a sailor’s belaying pin (used to secure rigging on ships), while others had one or both ends turned to form handles. The Shakers were particularly known for their elegant wooden rolling pins. In France, pastry chefs still prefer wooden pins without handles, which they say gives them a better feel of the dough. Over time, rolling pins have been made from nearly every kind of wood possible, including sycamore, walnut, pine, cherry, mahogany, boxwood, beech, fruitwood, and ash. The best and most popular woods for rolling pins were maple and lignum vitae, thanks to their weight and density, which helped these pins resist moisture and cracking. They were also less likely to absorb ingredients and become stinky and unsanitary. Lignum vitae is unusually hard and as dense as iron, so those rolling pins were designed to last a lifetime. The size and shape of a rolling pin, as well as its handles, often gives a good indication of its purpose. Long, convex wooden rolling pins with tapered ends instead of handles, similar to the pins prefered by French bakers, are often used for pie crusts. Short, straight rolling pins were meant for candy makers. Springerle molds, which are similar to cookie cutters, were used to impress designs of fruit, animals, or flowers on German gingerbread and fancy Christmas cakes, as well as flat British cookies called biscuits. These patterns were sometimes carved into wooden rolling pins to save time and trouble, as the patterns could be quickly rolled into the dough. Perhaps because of their similarity to sailors’ belaying pins, rolling pins became associated with seafarers and...
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