Before the introduction of electricity, irons were heated by combustion, either in a fire or with some internal arrangement. An "electric flatiron" was invented by American Henry Seely White and patented on June 6, 1882. It weighed almost 15 pounds (6.8 kg) and took a long time to heat. The UK Electricity Association is reported to have said that an electric iron with a carbon arc appeared in France in 1880, but this is considered doubtful. Two of the oldest sorts of iron were either containers filled with a burning substance, or solid lumps of metal which could be heated directly. Metal pans filled with hot coals were used for smoothing fabrics in China in the 1st century BC. A later design consisted of an iron box which could be filled with hot coals, which had to be periodically aerated by attaching a bellows. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there were many irons in use that were heated by fuels such as kerosene, ethanol, whale oil, natural gas, carbide gas (acetylene, as with carbide lamps), or even gasoline. Some houses were equipped with a system of pipes for distributing natural gas or carbide gas to different rooms in order to operate appliances such as irons, in addition to lights. Despite the risk of fire, liquid-fuel irons were sold in U.S. rural areas up through World War II. In Kerala in India, burning coconut shells were used instead of charcoal, as they have a similar heating capacity. This method is still in use as a backup device, since power outages are frequent. Other box irons had heated metal inserts instead of hot coals. From the 17th century, sadirons or sad irons (from Middle English "sad", meaning "solid", used in English through the 1800s[4]) began to be used. They were thick slabs of cast iron, triangular and with a handle, heated in a fire or on a stove. These were also called flat irons. A laundry worker would employ a cluster of solid irons that were heated from a single source: As the iron currently in use cooled down, it could be quickly replaced by a hot one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothes_ironThis iron is typical of the clothes iron used before electric irons superseded it.Salter iron no. 6, painted black but with rust showing through. Salter iron no. 6.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, iron, clothes, laundry

2 sheave metal block with hook & eye belt, rustedflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

A small glass bottle possibly used for pills.Historical: This type of bottle is no longer used.Rectangular amber glass bottle with rusted metal screw lid.F. 93; G (above) M surrounded by 3 lines; all on base of bottle bottle, rectangular bottle, amber, domestic

Key with rust and dents from wear and tear. Some engravings. "J Hubball" "Melbourne" "A" and "J" prison, gaol, incarceration

From the early days of our race, the knife represented one of the first and most important tools that enabled rise of our technology, military, culture, science and all other things that brought us to this point of modern civilisation. As a vital tool for survival, combat, construction and food preparation, the knife quickly became the most basic tool from which all others were born. In those ancient times, 500,000 years ago, sharpened stones started slowly evolving, becoming more and more like their modern counterpart. Before the time when fire enabled the melting of the various metals, and forging them into modern knives, their stone counterparts received several visual upgrades. Double bladed knives were most popular, and their wooden or stone hilts were decorated with animal skins and feathers. Those knives represented a great deal of pride for the warriors and elders who owned them, and that tradition continued to be practised with the arrival of the Bronze Age. The appearance of metallurgy brought the ability to create knives from softer types of metal. Even though knives from bronze did not provide durability over longer periods of time [easily dulled, and susceptible to corrosion), their sharpness and slim designed proved to be superior to any stone knife tool. As the centuries went on, iron and then steel became commonplace across the entire world. Knives created from those materials were much more durable and easier to maintain their sharpness after prolonged use. During medieval times in Europe, steel metallurgy managed to evolve knives from small single or double-bladed edges to larger sizes - swords, spears and axes. Even with all those advancements, the use of knives as an eating utensil continued to be used in some small circles. Even as early as the 15th century, wealthy circles of people started carrying personal knives, intended for double use - both eating and defending against threats. During those times the host were not obliged to provide their guest with any kind of eating utensil in addition to plates, so wealthy males used their eating knives for cutting their own meals, and the meals of nearby female guests. Slim double-bladed knives were good for cutting and piercing foods. As the use of forks became widespread in the whole of Europe by the late 17th century, most people used this kind of small knife on a regular basis (a combination of two knives, one for stabilising and other for cutting the meal). http://www.eatingutensils.net/history-of-cutlery/knife-history/The knife is one of the most important items that has enabled the development of civilisation over thousands of years.Carving knife with wooden handle and rusted slender metal blade.None.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, knife, kitchen equipment, dining

Straight blades. Damaged end of one handle. Surface rust.churchill island, tool, tin snips

Hand shears - also called blade shears - were used to shear sheep prior to the introduction of machine shears and are still used today where no power machinery is available. Hand shears consist of two blades with a hinge at the end furthest from the point. The cutting edges pass each other as the shearer squeezes them together and shears the wool close to the animal's skin. In 1892 Jack Howe an Australian shearer sheared 321 sheep in one day using hand shears. This record has never been broken. hand shears with single spring, surface rust, unused, unsharpenedhand shears, sheep shearing, churchill island heritage farm

Rusted Two glass gems Detachable container Turnable KnobPcH Made in Englad No 22 DFCTATOR

Round Clay on the inside of the Basin to keep the basin together Rusted

Bent Handle Sealed Shut Rusted Cemi Cycle Shape

8718.1 - Wooden pen with attached nib which is pretty rusted.

8723.1 - Telephone painted black, some rusting and chipped paint.8723.1 - COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA DMG - No.22 PXA

8482.1 - Tall metal cylinder with rusted metal handle and hook.

8462.1 - Large rusted ten pronged fork with handle missing.

Brass foot shaped charm. Item is discoloured, tarnished and rusting.bendigo, gold mining, qc binks, qc binks, reader's digest, sweepstakes.

Cream yellow box with three objects and a velvet blue lining. 11008.1 - box is yellow cream with blue velvet and a rusted ribbon (black). 11008.2 - cream yellow dome handle. 11008.3 - cream yellow large tweezers - is rusted on the ring that opens object. 11008.4 - large handle with rusted hook and small design on bottom.Made in England 11008.1 - who it was donated by.

Scythes were used to manually mow wheat or grass. Scythes were used with a long sweeping movement which made them much less tiring for labourers to use than reaping hooks or sickles though they still involved great physical labour and considerable skill to perfect. Both hands were in use and the operator did not have to bend his back to reach down to the crop. On farms scythes were sharpened on a sandstone wheel mounted on an axle with a crank handle on one side. This was hand powered and used with water. Scythes were not used as often on farms after the mechanisation of harvesting. They were still used for cutting awkward shaped small plots and for opening a path for the tractors. This item is an example of a tool used by the early settlers of the Orbost district. An iron scythe blade, curved and tapered. There is no handle and the blade is rusted and pitted."ROSE"scythe tool agriculture rural

This item would have been very common on farms throughout the Orbost area. Prior to bulk milk, cream was the major commodity which was sold to the butter factory. This is a small separator, typical of home use. This domestic kitchen appliance is typical of the period when food processing was done at home. It would have been before the time of mass food processing factoriesHand operated rusted metal cream separator with metal and wood handle.Front - A.O Handle-75.T.PR.MIN Back- (RHS) A.O. (LHS) Co-op in outline of Australia.cream-separator domestic-food-preparation dairy-farming

Item issued to Malcolm Stuart Angus No 3112710, served Vietnam with 6 RAR 8.5.1969 - 17.11.1969.Metal (rusting) fold up stove with Hexamine cooking fuel tablets.domestic items - stoves, military -cooking equipment, hexamine

The key was used in gaols in the Victorian goldfields in the 19th century.The key is a good example of keys used in gaols in the Victorian goldfields in the 19th century.Metal Goal key with engravings. Scratches and rust from wear and tear"F134" "J. Hubball" "Melbourne" goal, incarceration, prison

One of three Cannon Balls found c1920 on the north side of Rhyll by Oswald Underdown. It is presumed to be from the 1826 British battery Fort Dumaresq. This together with the settlement near Corinella was set up to deter the French from taking possession of the area.Cannon ball, black cast iron, minor rusting - one of three. fort dumaresq, cannon, samuel wright, 3 pound cannon ball, oswald underdown

Tin used to store coffee. Round metal tin with lid. Chipped black paint, some rust."Caffe" very feint on outside of tin.coffee tins

Metal spoon with timber handle, found along Plenty River near Yallambie circa 2005. [View advertisement in The Weekly Times Saturday 12 August 1899, page 32]Spoon with pointed bowl, timber handle and bone on shaft. Some rust.spoons, plenty river, yallambie

Naturally, we tend to take commonplace objects for granted, because they have always been there. Yet how many of you actually have thought “hey, where do forks come from?” Well, it takes one trip to China and a 3-year-old laughing at your face because of your desperate attempt to eat with chopsticks to finally appreciate something so ordinary such as a fork. So, where do forks come from? The early history of the fork is obscure. As a kitchen and dining utensil, it is believed to have originated in the Roman Empire, as proved by archaeological evidence. The personal table fork most likely originated in the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire. Its use spread to what is now the Middle East during the first millennium AD and then spread into Southern Europe during the second millennium. It did not become common in northern Europe until the 18th century and was not common in North America until the 19th century. Carving fork from 1640. Source: Wikipedia/Public Domain Carving Fork from 1640. Source: Wikipedia/Public Domain Some of the earliest known uses of forks with food occurred in Ancient Egypt, where large forks were used as cooking utensils. Bone forks had been found on the burial site of the Bronze Age Qijia culture (2400–1900 BC) as well as later Chinese dynasties’ tombs.The Ancient Greeks used the fork as a serving utensil. Read also: Steven Spielberg to Remake the Classic Musical ‘West Side Story’ In the Roman Empire, bronze and silver forks were used. The use varied according to local customs, social class and the nature of food, but forks of the earlier periods were mostly used as cooking and serving utensils. The personal table fork was most likely invented in the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, where they were in everyday use by the 4th century (its origin may even go back to Ancient Greece, before the Roman period). Records show that by the 9th century a similar utensil known as a barjyn was in limited use in Persia within some elite circles. By the 10th century, the table fork was in common use throughout the Middle East. Bronze forks made in Persia during the 8th or 9th century.Source: Wikipedia/Public Domain Bronze forks made in Persia during the 8th or 9th century.Source: Wikipedia/Public Domain The first recorded introduction of the fork to Western Europe, as recorded by the theologian and Cardinal Peter Damian, was by Theophano Sklereina the Byzantine wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II, who nonchalantly wielded one at an Imperial banquet in 972, astonishing her Western hosts.By the 11th century, the table fork had become increasingly prevalent in the Italian peninsula. It gained a following in Italy before any other Western European region because of historical ties with Byzantium and continued to get popularity due to the increasing presence of pasta in the Italian diet. At first, pasta was consumed using a long wooden spike, but this eventually evolved into three spikes, design better suited to gathering the noodles. In Italy, it became commonplace by the 14th century and was almost universally used by the merchant and upper classes by 1600. It was proper for a guest to arrive with his fork and spoon enclosed in a box called a cadena; this usage was introduced to the French court with Catherine de’ Medici’s entourage. In Portugal, forks were first used at the time of Infanta Beatrice, Duchess of Viseu, King Manuel I of Portugal’s mother around 1450. However, forks were not commonly used in Western Europe until the 16th century when they became part of Italian etiquette. The utensil had also gained some currency in Spain by this time, and its use gradually spread to France. Nevertheless, most of Europe did not adopt the use of the fork until the 18th century. Read also: The 8 Most Famous ‘Functioning Alcoholics’ in History Long after the personal table fork had become commonplace in France, at the supper celebrating the marriage of the Duc de Chartres to Louis XIV’s natural daughter in 1692, the seating was described in the court memoirs of Saint-Simon: “King James having his Queen on his right hand and the King on his left, and each with their cadenas.” In Perrault’s contemporaneous fairy tale of La Belle au bois dormant (1697), each of the fairies invited for the christening is presented with a splendid “fork holder”. The fork’s adoption in northern Europe was slower. Its use was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings on his Italian travels (1611), but for many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use, St. Peter Damian seeing it as “excessive delicacy.” It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, although some sources say that forks were common in France, England, and Sweden already by the early 17th century. Spaghetti fork By Lady alys - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6414948 Spaghetti Fork By Lady alys – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, The fork did not become popular in North America until near the time of the American Revolution. The curved fork used in most parts of the world today was developed in Germany in the mid 18th century while the standard four-tine design became current in the early 19th century. The fork was important in Germany because they believed that eating with the fingers was rude and disrespectful. The fork led to family dinners and sit-down meals, which are important features of German culture. https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/31/priority-fork-came-italy-european-country-pasta/?chrome=1Serving fork, two prongs, with a shaped wooden handle. Badly rusted.None.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, food, meat, carving

The development of bronze and iron metalworking skills allowed for cookware made from metal to be manufactured, although adoption of the new cookware was slow due to the much higher cost. After the development of metal cookware there was little new development in cookware, with the standard medieval kitchen utilising a cauldron and a shallow earthenware pan for most cooking tasks, with a spit employed for roasting. By the 17th century, it was common for a Western kitchen to contain a number of skillets, baking pans, a kettle and several pots, along with a variety of pot hooks and trivets. Brass or copper vessels were common in Asia and Europe, whilst iron pots were common in the American colonies. Improvements in metallurgy during the 19th and 20th centuries allowed for pots and pans from metals such as steel, stainless steel and aluminium to be economically produced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookware_and_bakewareThis item is significant as an example of an item in common use in the kitchen in the second half of the 19th Century, and thereafter.Metal oval cake/pie dish. Significant rust all over..None.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, cookware, bakeware, kitchenware

2 sheave wood block painted rust brown, ring at topflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village

An agricultural tool used by loggers, or farmers, the log splitting wedge has been used for thousands of years and was originally made from stone. They were either driven straight into the wood or into a previously made incision with the blade parallel to the grain. Using a sledgehammer or other tool hammered onto the flat end, the wedge is forced deeper into the log until the force splits the timber.blacksmith made steel wedge with irregular relief groove; surface rustwilfred dungan collection, timber splitting, churchill island, blacksmith, olinda, shady creek

A fern hook is an agricultural tool used for slashing or reaping crops which are then gathered in sheaves and bundled together. Primarily used for penetrating and cutting through larger and heavier foliage, this example has a bored hole, probably used for attaching a longer wooden handle.fern hook with surface rust, but made from good steel. No handle."PARKER CAST" image of feet in first ballet position, with No 6 under left foot. "1281"parker tools, fern hook, agriculture, churchill island heritage farm

Square Bottle Rusted Lid Green, red, yellow and black labelShield Brand Fort una fortes jubat trade mark artificially coloured lemon juice cordial NETT 20 FL.OZS. Contains not more than two grains sulphur dioxide to the pint