Child's mincer, cast iron with clamping screw, 1930-1950.

This model is a child's meat mincer. Before mass production, food came in unprocessed chunks and needed crushing. From the middle of the nineteenth century a number of gadgets for the preparation of food began to appear, at first in the USA, then later in Britain and Europe. These tools performed tasks previously undertaken by a knife or chopper, such as peeling, coring, stoning and mincing. The meat mincer was the most universal of these kitchen aids, remaining largely unchanged for over a century. This child's version which is made of cast iron, is typical of miniature working machines, allowing small hands to be playfully occupied as well as helping in the kitchen.