Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - September 23, 1984
By Susie Dewey
Vigo County Historical Society

Tool of the early kitchen
Early vegetable chopper proved safer for user

Tools or implements of any age or any group of people tell a great deal. Anthropologists study tools closely and consider any find of tools a great breakthrough. The vegetable chopper at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley is a tool that tells more about the 19th century than first appears.

The chopper is a heavy, cast iron instrument that has been carefully preserved with black paint. Barely discernible in the cast iron base is the date 1860. The complex gears operate a lethal-looking knife which must have chopped cabbage at a great rate.

This forerunner of the modern Cuisinart was presented to the Vigo County Historical Society by Samuel Haas.

Women who used the vegetable chopper probably used it most to prepare cabbage for sauerkraut. Cabbage was a plentiful crop that required little care. In summer months the vegetable was served as cole slaw, but its primary use was as salted sauerkraut, because it was easily stored in barrels or jars in dark cool basements.

Cooks of the day did not know the dish was high in vitamin C, but they knew that is was easily prepared and added zest to dull, bland winter meals of meat and potatoes. It was served either hot as a vegetable or cold as a salad or relish.

Women not so fortunate as to own a vegetable chopper sliced the cabbage into thin shreds with a large kitchen knife or a crudely constructed instrument with a wicked, sharp blade set into two wooden sticks. The sticks were placed over the sauerkraut jar. The cabbage was passed quickly over the blade. Such work was not for the weak hearted. Injuries were frequent. The vegetable chopper with its simple handle to turn and relatively safe blade was a step toward safety in the kitchen.

Women who used the vegetable chopper were sturdy and strong. Just lifting it requires considerable brawn. Cleaning the machine required cautious handling; no shield or hood protects the blade. Just turning the handle against the resistance of root vegetables took muscle and endurance.

Although the chopper was used primarily for making sauerkraut, it could be used for other root vegetables or for cucumbers for relish. These uses were rare, however, because the blade is large. Smaller instruments were more effective.

The vegetable chopper in the museum is well preserved. Rust had not injured the iron. The housewife who used it must have valued it, for she washed, dried and stored it away from harm. The care and preservation of cast iron tools was a complicated process. No moisture can be allowed to collect or remain on the iron.

Diet, food preservation, cleanliness and physical qualities of the cook in the 19th century can all be deduced from one tool -- the vegetable chopper.