A magazine in 1891, Inventive Age, printed in its "New Patents for Sale" column the following:"Catharine Deiner advertised the rolling pin for which she had received a patent only the month before. 'Improved rolling pin is for sale. It consists of a rolling pin with an adjustable sleeve, which when placed on the pin gives the operator four cake cutters, making in possible to rapidly cut up dough into cakes without waste. It can be used in bakeries and families.'"
Now that is one complicated rolling pin. Take a look at the patent illustration itself, dated 1891 for Catharine Deiner of Lebanon, PA.
Catharine wrote in the patent:
"My invention relates to an attachment to a rolling-pin, by which dough may be cut into various shapes and forms."
So reading through the patent, I believe this is what she meant:
- Figures 6, 7 and 8 are the shapes and forms that can be cut.
- Figures 2 and 5 show the cutter positions.
- Figure 4 is an end view of a zig-zag cutter.
- Figure 3 is an end piece showing how it's fastened.
Pretty complicated, if you ask me, but wouldn't it be fun to try one of these? I wonder if any still exist.
Have you seen this rolling pin?
Sources:
Feminine Ingenuity: How Women Inventors Changed America, Anne L Macdonald, Ballantine, 1994.
http://www.google.com/patents/US448476
Copyright 2015 © Sharon Marie Himsl
