How To Corner The Market In Eight Short Years

The Dow Jones Industrial Average hovered around 10,800 points in 2005.  The S & P 500 Index stood at 1,248.  And a man in Missouri began a quest to corner a little-known market:  meat grinders.

Why meat grinders?  Well, they are generally “off the radar” for most of the public and not many people collect them.  Back then, prices were still reasonable, and they were readily available at most antique stores and farm auctions.  And they just happen to have caught the interest of my dad, Tracy.  Dad knew that they were a common item in homes; one that didn’t garner much attention.  They were just “there.”  In truth, meat grinders were an important kitchen utensil for families from the late 1800s, and though not found in every kitchen today, they can still be purchased new from places like Cabelas and Sears.


Seven different sizes of meat grinders in my dad's collection
 



Look at the variety of shapes and sizes



Close-up of a rectangular and an oval grinder

 

In most grinders, the auger unscrews and pulls out of the body.....



..... but this one opens up for easy cleaning

 

For years mom and I haunted antique stores while dad sat on that ever-popular “husband bench” typically found outside every antique store.  Then one day he re-discovered the interesting, inexpensive, everyday kitchen gadget that had been ignored by collectors - ignored, that is, until he arrived on the scene.  Dad started collecting meat grinders in earnest in 2005.  He had started with the attitude “if it’s under $5.00 and in working condition I’ll buy it.” He has found most of his metal beauties locally in mid-Missouri, but some have been gifts and others were found during our wandering around the country.  He tags them with the date and the location where they were obtained and the price paid, and then displays them in the loft of the big barn on their farm.  With a collection in excess of 200 grinders, they are now mounted on peg boards or clamped on old ladders, tables, and even antique wooden ironing boards.  Originally the internal parts would have been lubricated by the fat in the meat being processed.  Since those on display are not being used they must be oiled and maintained so they don’t rust.  Dad contends that keeping them in working order is paramount.

 

Meat grinders mounted everywhere:  On an old wooden ironing board...



.....on a table.....

 

...even on the railing at the edge of the hay loft



Some of the more than 200 meat grinders in my dad's collection

The person credited with creating a prototype of the meat grinder is Karl Drais.  He was born in Germany in 1785 and died in 1851.  The meat grinder was one of his many inventions.  His most notable invention was the precursor to the bicycle.  His politics often interfered with acceptance of his inventions. ¹   In 1851, at the Great Exposition in London, a Mr. V. Price displayed “a chopping knife for the reduction of suet & etc. into small particles.” ²   By 1853 a metal meat grinder appeared in the first salesman’s price guide of the St. Louis hardware company Norvell-Shapleich. ³   The fact that this tool was included in this early “catalog” is clear evidence of the usefulness and desirability of the meat grinder in the family home.

Dad’s collection reflects the diversity of the product line.  Universal has been a traditionally popular brand since it was patented on October 27, 1897 by the Landers, Frary, Clark Company of New Britain, CT.  Enterprise was another household name.  Other brands include Keystone, Climax, Dana, American Cutlery, Sunbeam, and Rayflex. Even the Winchester Arms Company got into the market. ²   The brands most in demand by collectors today are Keen Kutter (introduced in 1904 by the E.C. Simmons Company) and Griswold.  In addition to meat grinders, both of these brand names were applied to other kitchen goods; thus, some aficionados collect “everything Keen Kutter” or “everything Griswold.”  Today you can find a Chop-Rite #1  (produced in Pottstown, PA) in both antique stores and new in Amish catalogs.  The durability of these items can be attributed to fine craftsmanship and continued usefulness. 
 


Keen Kutter...one of the most collectible, and perhaps the best-known name



Dad working on 8 of the more than 200 meat grinders in his collection



Working in the barn.  One of the largest in the collection
is mounted on the end of an antique wooden ironing board

Another aspect of collecting is the “salesman’s sample” or child’s toy.  There are conflicting opinions over whether the miniatures were samples or toys.  Perhaps both points of view are valid, depending on the intricacies of the item.  Some miniatures are detailed and thus could be fully functional while others are stylized, giving the appearance of a meat grinder without the possibility of cutting little fingers.  (Who would give a toy meat grinder to a child?  Consider the Easy Bake Oven.)  Whether salesman’s samples or toys, they are cute!  (Sorry, dad, but the really are cute.)



Some of the smaller salesmen's samples or toys.  The dollar bill and the
quarter in this photo give you a good perspective on the size of these grinders



This is the smallest meat grinder in the collection, next to a quarter to provide perspective

 

This 3 inch meat grinder actually works.  It is probably a
salesman's sample rather than a child's toy

 

One of the larger grinders next to the smallest.  Look closely!

Desirability for the collector depends primarily on age and condition.  For my dad, condition means in working order.  Factors to consider in evaluating meat grinders include plating (such as nickeled cast iron, zinc plated, or galvanized); material on the knob or crank (examples include metal, wood, or bakelite); and material and form of the thumb screw. Prices increase with the number and condition of attachments.   The “sausage stuffer” was an optional extra-cost attachment and there are not many available today.  Because paperwork and boxes were destroyed or lost, those items can double the value of a particular piece.  Most of the value is in the enjoyment the collector experiences. Dad certainly enjoys his.



Having the original box more than doubles the value of this
Keystone grinder, manufactured in Pennsylvania

It is only fitting that the hay loft in a barn on a farm first homesteaded in 1825, is the home of dad’s collection of these utilitarian implements that have served generations of families.  As dad continues to add more pieces to his collection he is essentially saving part of American history in these humble metal “contraptions” that have been a part of the ordinary American home for over a century-and-a-quarter.

 

The barn on my dad and mom's farm houses his collection of meat grinders

We joke that with over 200 pieces in his collection, dad has cornered the meat grinder market in just eight short years.  My dad’s barn and the treasures it contains - - proof that you don’t always have to go too far from home to find interesting Road Stories.

 

¹   YJ Group, Ltd., d/b/a Shenzhen Chinese Appliance Company, Ltd.  www.yjgroupltd.cn/web

²   300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles by Linda Campbell Franklin  4^th Edition

³    www.ancientpoint.com