A SIMPLE WIRE DEVICE patented in 1927 is arguably the kitchen world’s combination tool with the most combinations
The Nov. 22, 1927 patent No. 1,649,874 by HERBERT MONRO TAYLOR of Rochester, New York, was for a “kitchen utensil” formed “from a single piece of heavy wire” (see The Eggbeater Chronicles, Page 285, Fig. 24-67).
His handheld device, he said “is capable of being employed in the kitchen for a number of different purposes, as for instance, an egg separator, a ladle, a strainer for separating solids from liquids, as a coffee or tea strainer, or for separating fruits and vegetables from liquids and also as a beater for beating up cakes, eggs or whipped cream or the like.”
At first glance, the promise of using the utensil as a coffee or tea strainer seems like a stretch. But later in the patent Taylor explained: “When used as strainer for tea, coffee or the like requiring a finer strainer action, a strainer cloth may be placed in the space between the upper and lower convolutions” of the wire cup.
But that’s not all. Taylor said it could be “used as a ladle for removing boiled eggs … from boiling water or it may be used for removing French fried potatoes or fried cakes from hot fats.”
The 8 ¾ inch tool was sold with a cardboard backing that in itself was a marvel of culinary boasts. Marked on one side “The 20 in 1 New Kitchen Necessity” and “The Pride of the Housewife” on the other, it said in part, “ A Triumph of Usefulness … Combines in One Scientifically Devised Utensil the Best Features of All Mixers and Whippers.” The cardboard backing did not list a price, nor the manufacturer.
In addition to the “20 in 1” utensil, Taylor was granted at least four other patents from 1904 to 1926, listing his place of residence as Hamilton or Toronto, Canada. The patents were for an “incandescent electric lamp” (Patent No. 753,935, March 8, 1904}; “clothesline tightener” (Patent No. 1,595,891, August 10, 1926}; “ground pipe fitting” for ground wires (Patent No. 1,597,169, August 24, 1926); and “garden hose attachment” (Patent no. 1,612,326 December 28, 1926). The hose attachment merits more than a passing mention. Taylor said his “novel type of device” could be turned to various positions to “control the form of discharge” ranging from coarse to fine.
Two of these patents were assigned to Frank Sutcliffe of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. At the time, Sutcliffe was the president of John Wood Manufacturing Company in Conshohocken, a maker of steel products. Although Taylor’s “kitchen utensil” was not assigned to Sutcliffe, there is a chance his company manufactured it.
Taylor’s connection to Rochester is not known. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada March 24, 1879. The 1901 Canadian census listed the newly married Herbert and wife Ada and his occupation as “tailor.” In the 1921 census it was “machinist.” His wife Ada died Dec. 28, 1935 and he passed away Aug. 4, 1951. They are buried at St. John’s Norway Cemetery and Crematorium in Toronto.
— Ancestry detective Reid Cooper contributed to this report —
(c) 2020, Donald Thornton. All rights reserved.