1920s Counter Mount Squirrel Nut Cracker

1920s Counter Mount Squirrel Nut Cracker

Approximately 5 1/2" x 11"

Can't pass up old tools. Bought this yesterday for $4. It seems to still be functioning perfectly. Has a gear and cam mechanism that tightens up as you rotate the handle.

Has many marking on the piece..."Alex Woldert Co" on one side of the handle and "Tyler Tex and Chicago" on the other side. The mounting bar also has writing "Squirrel Nut Cracker" on one side and "L200 Pat'd Dec. 29, 1925" on the other. Every part has a different mark: L200, F200, E200 S200, 2 and a 7.

I did see one (Can't find it now) that was posted on CW, that had an earlier patent date of 1913.

I didn't find much information on the Alex Woldert Co, except for an interesting lawsuit over the purchase of peaches.

NUT CRACKERS
The original nut crackers were simple rocks.
"Pitted stones used for cracking nuts have been found in various parts of the United States and Europe and have been dated back to the Archaic Period, 4,000 to 8,000 years ago. These nomadic peoples would camp near the nut trees when it was time for the nuts to fall. Kernels were eaten whole or ground to make flour or nut butters.

The oldest known metal nutcracker dates to the third or fourth century B.C. and is shown in a museum in Tarent, Italy. The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum shows a bronze Roman nutcracker dated between 200 B.C. and 200 A.D. It was found in 1960 after being buried for over 1800 years"**

**http://www.nutcrackermuseum.com/history.htm**