Posted 8 years ago
Theorangep…
(1 item)
Flea market buy. No one seems to know what it is. It's about 4-6 inches long.that small vertical tab you see sticking straight up slides right to left.
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Show pix with it in it's other positions.
It is a kitchen tool - a can opener. Back when canning was really "can"ning, food was processed in real tin cans (softer than steel, and why we use the word "tin" to refer to cans of all types) with the lids soldered on after filling and only a small hole in the center to allow pressure to escape while they were heated to kill bacteria. When they were fully hot the hole was closed with a bit of solder and when they cooled the can had vacuum inside. Now: to open the can the hook at the end of your tool was pressed down into the center of the lid and the tool was levered down until the blade punctured the lid near the edge. Then it was rotated cutting the lid open. Notice that the blade can adjust to the radius of the lid.
That makes sense.
Thank you!!!
From the Department of Nobody Cares but I've got this shit stuck in my head: "Modern" canning, as a way to preserve food, was invented in France in the early 1800s. Feeding a army on the move was a primary weakness of military campaigns of the time. The government offered a large cash prize to anyone who could invent a way to preserve food indefinitely so it could be taken along with the troops without spoiling.