Vegetable Chopper

Today, when we think of automatic food choppers, we envision a device designed to replace knife work and make chopping ingredients for dishes faster and easier. But this Vegetable Chopper advertisement seems to indicate that the appliance will chop up just about anything, pigs, cows, sheep, fish, lobster, vegetables, etc.

The ad shows a “Vegetable Chopper,” which was meant to be mounted on a countertop. There is a circle of animals and vegetables all flowing into the opening at the top of the chopper. We see chickens, turkeys, carrots, coconut, apples, clams, fish, potato, celery, bread, lobster, crackers, beef, cauliflower, onions, sheep, cabbage, and pork.

This food chopper, which began to be marketed in the late 1800’s by Landers, Frary, & Clark of New Britain, Connecticut, was more a food grinder than a food chopper. However, the chopper did come with different “cutters” for chopping vegetables, meats, or for pulverizing crackers or breads.

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"In a fruit and vegetable cutter, a substantially annular body, said body comprising coaxial inner and outer cylindrical portions, said portions being joined together by substantially radial wall members, the lowermost surfaces of said wall members constituting sharpened and curvedly serrated cutting portions, the upper surface of the said inner cylindrical portion being lower than the upper surface of said outer cylindrical portion, and the upper surfaces of said wall members being inclined downwardly to and junctioning with the upper surface of said inner cylindrical portion."

In October 1948 the Department of Commerce allowed the patent application for the "Fruit and Vegetable Cutter." According to Rubin, "All that was needed was the thirty-five dollar government fee. He [Sol Robinson] did not think it was worth it. Since that was two weeks salary for me, I didn't go ahead, a decision that I still regret. When I was a lad, I had five ambitions: to sleep with a girl, get married, have children, write a book, and get a patent. I still have not gotten a patent though I have had a number of patentable ideas including magnetic coupling of motors and pumps."

"Every housewife is a prospect for useful, inexpensive articles for the home. Odorless, tasteless Lustron apple and pear cutters, retailing for only 25 cents, are all ready to go to work for you and your customers. Practical little Lustron cutters will segment and core fruit in just about a jiffy...an absolute 'natural' for gadget bars, kitchenware, hardware and chain store counters. Stimulate extra sales and extra profits with attractive, easy to use household items of practical plastics."

The company also sold coffee percolators and bread makers. In those days, companies did not always advertise individual products. Instead, they tended to focus on advertising the company or “brand” itself. Advertisements for the products read:

“Food to-day costs money. We are all out to make this food go just as far as possible. Universal Food Choppers, Bread Makers and Percolators conserve food. We have spent thousands of dollars to impress this fact.

By the use of the “Universal Food Chopper, the leftover bits of food are made into delicious and appetizing dishes and the price of the chopper is saved in no time.

With the “Universal” Bread Maker, whole wheat, rye or graham bread is made with the same certainty and ease that white bread is made.

The “Universal” Coffee Percolator makes delicious coffee without boiling. Saves you one-third on your coffee bill because every bit of flavor is extracted from each grain of coffee.

Realizing these facts, housewives everywhere are buying these goods. Put these articles where they can be seen and handled—it won’t hurt them,—but will sell them.

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