Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - June 24, 1984
By Richard L. Tuttle
Vigo County Historical Society

Kitchen aid preceded processor

The fertile minds of those inventors whose goal was to save the "little housewife" drudgery in the kitchen were at work ling before the microwave oven, dishwasher, and food processor came on the scene.

One such example is our historical treasure this week, the Family Cherry Stoner. This clever device was manufactured by the Goodell Co. of Antrim, N.H. This product of "Yankee ingenuity" is simple to operate.

Cherries are fed into the two parallel troughs , which end with a cup with a hole in the bottom. The curved prongs are lowered into the cherry, pierce it, and push the stone out through the hole. As the prongs are withdrawn, the cherries come along until they strike the tin pie plate.

An original ad for the Family Cherry Stoner hints at the reason for the "family" in the name. "The Family Cherry Stoner is not a cherry masher. It removes nothing but the stones, leaving the fruit plump and round as before stoning. It is the only machine of which this can be said. There is nothing to get out of fix: a child can use it for fun. Will last a lifetime, but cheap enough to throw away after each season. Everyone who has cherries wants one. Sold by wholesale hardware and house furnishing goods dealers generally. Take no substitute."

The pitter was manufactured between approximately 1880 and 1930. The wood chute was replaced with cast metal around 1895. The retail price couldn't be located, but the 1897 Sears Roebuck Catalogue sold a slightly more complicated model for 60 cents.

The Godless Co. manufactured a long line of kitchen time-saving gadgets, including bean slices, orange peelers, can openers and seed sores. The mainstay of the product line was the White Mountain Parer, Corer and Slicer, which was manufactured with periodic improvements from the mid 1860s until 1970 when it was discontinued. The company now manufactures painters tools.