85/43

This is an apple corer made from a knuckle bone, probably from a sheep. It belonged to and was used by the donor's family and probably originated in Banbury, Oxfordshire. It dates from the late 19th century or earlier. The donor suggested that it may have been given to her parents by her grandmother when they married in 1913. Her cousins who lived in Banbury also had such a corer. This corer was in use until circa mid-1960s. In her book 'Kitchen Antiques', author Mary Nowak writes the following about apple corers such as this one: "The preparation of fruit inspired some of the earliest and most primitive gadgets. The earliest implements for coring fruit were apple scoops, made from the metacarpal bones of sheep, hollowed out and roughly ornamented with criss-cross hatchings. These were often used to scoop all the flesh from the apple, leaving the skin intact, and were useful for those who had lost their teeth."

1 apple corer: bone; good condition

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Institute of Agricultural History) – 'Standard museum name: APPLE-CORER // Accession number: 85/43 // Classification: DOMESTIC Preparing // Negative number: 60/14920 // Acquisition method: Gift // Acquired from, date: Miss B. Smith, [...], May 1985 // Store: small object // Condition: good // Recorder, date: JMB 25.9.85 // Description: An apple corer made from a knuckle bone - probably that of a sheep. // Date: late C19th or earlier // Dimensions: Length: 10.0cm // Associated information: This corer belonged to Miss Smith's family and probably originated in Banbury, Oxon. // "The preparation of fruit inspired some of the earliest and most primitive gadgets. The earliest implements for coring fruit were apple scoops, made from the metacarpal bones of sheep, hollowed out and roughly ornamented with criss-cross hatchings. These were often used to scoop all the flesh from the apple, leaving the skin intact, and were useful for those who had lost their teeth." Extract from "Kitchen Antiques" by Mary Nowak. MERL 7060. // References:', Letter, MERL to Miss B. Smith, 14 June 1985 – 'Dear Miss Smith, // I would like to thank you very much for the apple corer that you donated to the Museum. It is an interesting and unusual object and we are very pleased to have it for our collections. // It would be most useful to us if you were able to give us any other information about the corer. Do you have any idea who made it, how old it might be or where it was used and by whom? // I look forward to hearing from you. // Yours sincerely, // Mrs. J. Betts', Letter, Miss B. Smith to MERL, date unknown – 'Dear Mrs Betts // Thank you for your letter, I am sorry I don't have any information about the corer, it was always in our knive drawer, but my Mother and Father came from Banbury, & I have asked my cousins there, & they had one also, so we think my Grandmother might have given them, which would be 1913 when my Parents were married, we used it until about twenty years ago. // I saw one in York Museum, that's why I thought you might like it. // Yours sincerly // B. Smith'

1900