Attack of the mysterious juicer thing!

[skyfaller]

Several days ago, Steven Bhardwaj showed up at my dorm with a strange object that he discovered at a flea market, which he felt compelled to give to me. It appears to be some sort of juicer, perhaps an orange juicer. If I had to hazard a guess at its operation, I think that you slice up an orange, place the slices in the hopper, and squeeze the juice into a cup placed under the funnel. This conclusion is strengthened by vaguely orange-colored stains on the base of the machine. Has anyone seen something like this before, who could confirm my theory?

If you look at the bottom of the object, there is a company logo that reads "ALCOA", and there is a patent number, "PAT. NO. DES.86217"... only problem is that searching for patent number 86217 on the USPTO website turns up a patent from the 1860s, and it doesn't appear to have anything to do with a juicer. The plot thickens...

UPDATE: That is because I should have been searching for patent # D86217! The D is important, apparently. If you go there and click on "images" you should be able to see pictures of my gadget!

UPDATE: Other pictures of the object can be found in the Flickr set Mysterious juicer thing.

At any rate, thanks for the juicer thingie Steve :-) It's always nice when old friends stop by... I hadn't talked to Steve in so long that I didn't know he had gotten engaged! Unfortunately I can't find the link now, but his proposal somehow made it onto Chinese TV, since he and his fiancee-to-be were in China at the time... intense. Apparently over in China, arranged marriages are still the norm, especially in rural areas, so an engagement is still something newsworthy, especially since foreigners are frequently newsworthy anyway, it seems.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

ALCOA was a mining company, no?

[skyfaller]

Alcoa appears to be an aluminum company, according to Wikipedia. Is this thing made out of aluminum?? It is very light, I suppose it could be made of aluminum.

[sammka.livejournal.com]

looks like aluminum.

[skyfaller]

Ha, ha, I'm smart... I would have known it was made of aluminum if I had noticed the logo on the base that says "Wear-Ever Aluminum Trademark". Clearly you are right.

[sammka.livejournal.com]

It looks like it might also be a pasta maker or maybe even a ground-beef shredder... could you post more views?

[skyfaller]

Done, check out the Flickr set.

[sammka.livejournal.com]

k definitely not for beef or pasta... "Juicer" seems to be the best explanation.

[krustad.livejournal.com]

If you use it to make juice, it's a juicer.

One thought--considering the size of the holding area on that thing, it may or may not be meant for juicing oranges. Seems like berries or grapes or other smaller fruit would work better.

[skyfaller]

That actually would make a lot of sense... I think you may be onto something! I thought it was an unorthodox design for an orange juicer... it wouldn't make sense to cut it up into slices and then juice it, if you're going to take the trouble to slice up an orange you might as well eat it.

[danielle5985.livejournal.com]

i don't doubt that this is a juicer, but i do find the design a little unorthodox. considering the shape of the pad at the end of the handle, and where it rests when completely closed, it seems a little inefficient. other juicers i've seen press your contents straight down onto the area with holes, not scrape the fruits across.

[skyfaller]

You're right, that is an interesting design decision. Why would you want to squeeze/scrape rather than crush? Is this consistent with Karen's theory that it's a berry juicer?

Steven's gadget

[(Anonymous)]

coconut scraper--put the bottom thing inside the coconut half and grate the coconut. Common in India.--hbh

juicer

[(Anonymous)]

Hey Neslon, happened onto your site by accident. This is a juicer for lemons, oranges etc. you quarter the fruit and set the piece's into the opening, flesh against the grate. the grate keeps the pulp from getting into your juice! Thanks for the info on the patent office I have been trying to find out exactly how old the juicer is. wearever is now owned by another company and they did'nt know anything. My mom recently gave me her's. it's been in the family for 70 plus years. It brings back alot of memories of mom and sunday breakfast, thats when i was ALLOWED to use it. Anyway dont put it into the dishwasher, it pits the metal (alluminum). Again thanks and by the way great site!!!

Juicer - no mystery

[(Anonymous)]

Don't worry, it IS a Juicer!

We have such a Juicer in our family. It is the best designed, and most effective, Juicer we have ever seen.

How to operate: Cut an orange or a lemon in half, put it in the Juicer. Put a cup under the thing to collect the juice. Press the handle.

Our Juicer also has the markings "PAT.NO DES. 86217", "OTHER PATS.PEND.". However there is no "ALCOA" mark. Instead a round embossing reads "WEAR-EVER TRADE MARK ALUMINIUM TAC UCO".

The Juicer was probably acquired by my wife's parents around the 1940s.

Magnus,
Sweden