Maybe made during WW 2 when building materials were scarce particularly in country townsLight wooden chair made from wooden packing boxes. Stabilised with bars on the back of the chair and between the four legsUnderneath the seat can be seen impressions that were stamped on the box . The words “Starch” and “boxes” can be read

Used for working and shaping fresh butter for a domestic situationWooden butter pats(paddles)not a true pair) with one side smooth and the reverse side grooved. There is a crack along one of the pats. They are flat with handles, all of wood.utensils, dairy, butter pats, kitchen wooden, churns

Early settlers had to be self sufficient, growing their own vegetables, making tools and clothing and usually had a house cow to produce their milk supply. .All the buttermilk separated from the butterfat had to be rinsed out. This would improve texture and flavour, and also help the butter keep well, since milk turns rancid more quickly than fat alone. Salt was usually mixed in at this stage - for flavour and preservation. The rinsing could be done simply by washing in water, followed by draining, salting and working or "kneading" the butter with a pair of wooden butter pats, or with bare hands. c1880 A pair of wooden butter patspioneers, early settlers, market gardeners, moorabbin, brighton, bentleigh, cheltenham, milk, dairy farmers, butter pats, dairy cows

Early settlers had to be self sufficient, growing their own vegetables, making tools and clothing and usually had a house cow to produce their milk supply. .All the buttermilk separated from the butterfat had to be rinsed out. This would improve texture and flavour, and also help the butter keep well, since milk turns rancid more quickly than fat alone. Salt was usually mixed in at this stage - for flavour and preservation. The rinsing could be done simply by washing in water, followed by draining, salting and working or "kneading" the butter with a pair of wooden butter pats, or with bare hands. c1880 2 wooden butter patsearly settlers, pioneers, market gardeners, moorabbin, bentleigh, brighton, cheltenham, dairy farmers, dairy cows, milk, butter

Wooden pastry cutter Rotating cutting bladekitchen equipment, wooden pastry cutter

Used for stirring a multitude of kitchen produced food, especially jam, scones, cakes, and soup. Also used by the mother as a threat to naughty children. The word spoon derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of wood or horn carved from a larger piece.[1] Wooden spoons were easy to carve and thus inexpensive, making them common throughout history. Wooden spoons have been made in virtually every nation on earth and (compared to silver or pewter or gold spoons) represent the ordinary artisan and reflect the life of ordinary folk: this is their "folk art". Source: www.wikipedia.org An essential item found in the kitchen. One piece wooden spoon. Turned marble-shaped decoration at end of handle.kitchen, food, spoon, wooden, stirring, mixing, jam, cakes, batter

Australian vintage wooden kitchen and farmhouse tables trace the country's colonial adaptation, relying on accessible local timbers like Australian cedar, Baltic and Kauri pine, and durable hardwoods like jarrah. Baltic and Kauri pine featured heavily in rural settings, particularly in South Australia and Victoria, built strong for heavy daily kitchen use. Simple rectangular tops with sturdy turned legs, scrubbed tops, and occasional utility drawers defined the style. A vintage very worn and marked light brown rectangular wooden kitchen table with four painted dark brown thick turned legs. The table surface has worn smooth through many years of use and cleaning.tables, kitchen tables, furniture

The first commercially available, Australian-made domestic refrigerator to operate without ice was produced by Edward Hallstrom in 1923. It used kerosene as a power source and was promoted as ideal for outback stations where ice was not available. According to Museum Victoria, Hallstrom introduced the 'Silent Night' which ran on electricity or gas in 1935. However, Hailstorm's great-grandson, stated that the Silent Night refrigerator was introduced in 1928. Although Australians were among the pioneers of refrigeration in the 1850s, the technology wasn't adapted for domestic use until many decades later. The first domestic electric refrigerator was sold in America in 1913. It had an air-cooled refrigeration unit mounted on top of an ice box. The Frigidaire and Kelvinator brands date from 1918 when the first self-contained fridges were sold. Before this food safes were used as well to keep food away from flies and to keep items cool.A significant item used from the late Victorian era until around 1940 when people were beginning to be able to afford domestic refrigerators. After the second world war, most households had replaced their food storage cupboards or safes with refrigerators. The subject item gives a snapshot of domestic life from this time.Wooden kitchen safe with 3 metal perforated panels & 2 shelves inside. Was painted light Green but has been restoredflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, refrigeration, refrigerator, food storage, food safes, edward hallstrom

Utensil for creating a spark to light gas cooker in kitchen, metal with wooden handle.domestic equipment, stoves, lighter

Pleasant Creek Courthouse Longfield Street with wooden kitchen extension when being used as a mounted constables quarters. Possibly 1900.stawell government

Wooden Kitchen Safe for storing food, with hinged door (with key-hole) and three galvanised preformatted sheet metal windows. Front legs machine turned wood.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, food safe, kitchen safe, kitchen furniture, food storage, food preservation

The first commercially available, Australian-made domestic refrigerator to operate without ice was produced by Edward Hallstrom in 1923. It used kerosene as a power source and was promoted as ideal for outback stations where ice was not available. According to Museum Victoria, Hallstrom introduced the 'Silent Night' which ran on electricity or gas in 1935. However, Hailstorm's great-grandson, stated that the Silent Night refrigerator was introduced in 1928. Although Australians were among the pioneers of refrigeration in the 1850s, the technology wasn't adapted for domestic use until many decades later. The first domestic electric refrigerator was sold in America in 1913. It had an air-cooled refrigeration unit mounted on top of an ice box. The Frigidaire and Kelvinator brands date from 1918 when the first self-contained fridges were sold. Before this food safes were used as well to keep food away from flies and to keep items cool.A significant item used from the late Victorian era until around 1940 when people were beginning to be able to afford domestic refrigerators. After the second world war, most households had replaced their food storage cupboards or safes with refrigerators. The subject item gives a snapshot of domestic life from this time.Wooden kitchen food safe, 2 door with wire mesh at sides. Raised back panel has shaped edges and includes a shelf above bench area that has turned legs. The safe has 4 plain legs.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, food safe, kitchen safe, kitchen furniture, food storage

The Ansonia Clock Company was founded in Connecticut in 1851 and moved to a factory in New York in 1878. It ceased operations in 2006. This clock can be dated to c. 1870's.Wooden American Kitchen clock made by the Ansonia Clock company with acid etched glass door showing a peacock and birds, chromed disc pendulum and winding key. Clock has a 30 hour movement with time and strike, partial paper label on back.Ansonia Clock Company New York USAhorology, clocks, ansonia

Photo sent to Mary Jack, Pittsburgh USA by Charles Schwerkolt. Accompanying text sent by Charles - 'This is the end facing Deep Creek Road. You will notice the wood boards are all curved. The floor is all eaten away with white ants and is all levels and the weatherboards have fallen at the ends. The roof is very bad also the gable of the stone looks not so good. The wooden kitchen is about 6 inches away from the stone house all the way around. You will notice the roof of the stone house is all colours with rust and paint. You will notice there are no spouts to take the water away. I took another photo but the light got into the lens of my camera so they would not print a photo from it.Black and white photo of Schwerkolt Cottage. The condition of the Kitchen roof is visible. The floor was ant eaten and a 6"' gap separated the Kitchen from the Cottage. Thin Black Border.schwerkolt cottage, schwerkolt, charles clarence victor, whalen, rosalie, jackschowsky, mary elizabeth

evolved from medieval "dressoirs" used for serving food into an essential 18th-century utility piece. The word "dresser" comes from the board or table where meat was "dressed" or food was prepared. Early versions featured a simple lower base with an upper plate rack added later for storing and displaying everyday tableware.A tall wooden handmade kitchen dresser painted cream and brown. It has two framed shelves built on top of the bench, two brown painted drawers with round wooden knobs and two opening doors below. These have brown trim with cream decorative shaped panels. Brown plastic knobs serve as door handles with two pieces of turning wood attached to the dividing frame by screws to ensure the doors close properly. There is one horizontal shelf inside. kitchen dressers, kitchen furniture, kitchen cupboards

Originally the Bow Chair started off life with the name of the ‘Smoker’s Bow Chair’ where originally, it wasn’t designed for grandeur like many chairs of the time, but instead was designed for practicality and comfort. The original Smoker’s Bow Chair was a simple chunkier version of the Windsor Chair design which first appeared in the 1820’s. Although it lacked the high back found on any Windsor Chair of the time, it maintained a heavier, sturdier appearance. The main feature was a hoop or bow which was fashioned from steamed wood. This was then curved to make both the back support and arms. The chair also consisted of a wide seat, supported by 4 splayed, spindle legs. In its original form it was found in many country kitchens of the day as well as in many inns and public houses throughout the United Kingdom. Its name of the "Smoker’s Bow Chair" because the sweeping armrests were the perfect height to support a smokers arm when smoking a pipe.A significant piece of furniture from the late 19th century designed for a specific purpose, smoking. These chairs are now highly collectable and valuable today and avidly sought by collectors of antique furniture.Chair wooden dark brown "Smoker's Bow" chair, with wide and deep seat with broad arms, turned spindles and thick turned legs joined by a double stretcher.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, chair, furniture, captains chair

This wooden table is a classic, simple design seen in kitchens in the 19th and 20th centuryThe table is representative of furniture of the 19th and 20th centuryTable; wooden with four wooden turned legs, varnished, and unvarnished top. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, furniture, table, kitchen table, dining

This chair has no maker's marks. The studs still on the seat, and the ventilation holes in the wooden seat, seem to indicate that the seat once had an upholstered cushion. Chair, wooden, with carved backrest and carved second horizontal back support.Seat has holes in a pattern, also studs around its perimiter. Legs and bracing ring are bentwood. Top of uprights for backrest have slight indentation design. Bemnants of dark colour stain, flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, chair, 19th or early 20th century chair, victorian furniture, kitchen furniture, dining furniture

This particular food mincer was manufactured by Enterprise Manufacturing Company. Located in Philadelphia, this company specialized in making hardware products. The company was especially known for its cherry pitters, apple peelers, and coffee mills. The company was founded in 1864 and was located on the corner of Dauphin, 3rd, and American Streets. Enterprise Manufacturing Co. remained in business until 1956 when it was bought by Silex Co.A mass produced early domestic item made for home food preparation this item's first patent design was approved in 1897. Manufactured by a well known company in the USA the "Enterprise Manufacturing Company” up until 1956. They specialised in making kitchen appliances of various types for domestic use and for export. Food mincers of the subject items design are still being produced today under the brand name of "Universal" made by Universal Trading Inc USA.Food mincer, metal, clamp on bench style, with rotating wooden handle. Inscriptions stamped on metal.Marked "Enterprise tinned Meat Chopper" "No. 10" "Enterprise MF'G Co. PHILA. USA" "PAT. JAN.30.83" flagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, mincer, food mincer, meat mincer, food preparation, kitchen utensil, domestic object, enterprise manufacturing company, kitchen appliance

An unusual item believed to have been made by carving from a solid piece of sandstone for domestic use no history or manufacturing provenance currently available item could have been made as a one off.The subject item at this time cannot be associated with an historical event, person or place, provenance is unknown, item assessed as a collection asset as it is believed to have been produced before 1950.Sandstone cooler round barrel shape. 2 equal sections. Top section has small wooden knob for lifting.Noneflagstaff hill, warrnambool, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, cooler, kitchen ware, sandstone cooler, kitchen item, ice bucket

It appears that the earliest form of child's high chair is attributed to Jonathan Jacobs (1845-1919) a cabinet maker of Browningsville, Pennsylvania USA around the mid to late 19th century. However, children’s chairs from the 18th century and earlier were being used and are in many museum collections around the world that show woodworkers were adapting chair designs for younger users in Europe and America at this time.An early children's wooden high chair probably made in America around 1890-1900. Many American manufactures made this type of wooden high chair called an “Eastlake” style and many did not mark their work so it is difficult to determine the subject items exact provenance. A significant item giving a snapshot into the evolution of children's furniture and domestic life during the late Victorian era.Convertible pressed back Victorian era high chair with convertible frame, cast iron wheels, Carved picture of a child to back of seatflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, high chair, potty chair, baby furniture, kitchen furniture

A butter churn is a device used to convert cream into butter. This is done through a mechanical process, frequently via a pole inserted through the lid of the churn, or via a crank used to turn a rotating device inside the churn. The use of butter is mentioned in biblical works and the earliest butter churn vessels belonging to Beersheba culture in Israel were found in Bir Abu Matar going back to Chalcolithic period between 6500–5500 BC. The butter churn in Europe may have existed as early as the 6th century AD, In the European tradition, the butter churn was primarily a device used by women, and the churning of butter was an essential responsibility along with other household chores. In earlier traditions of butter making, nomadic cultures placed milk in skin bags and produced butter either by shaking the bag manually, or possibly by attaching the bag to a pack animal, and producing butter simply through the movement of the animal. An item used to make butter in a domestic situation by turning a handle until the cream inside has turned to butter.Butter churn, wooden, lid pieces screwed or nailed together. Brass bearing on side with iron turning handle.Handle marked 28204 no other marks to indicate manufacturer or date of productionflagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, churn, butter churn, wooden churn, butter making, food, dairy, kitchen utensil

Some very early tables were made and used by the Ancient Egyptians around 2500 BC, using wood and alabaster. They were often little more than stone platforms used to keep objects off the floor, though a few examples of wooden tables have been found in tombs. Food and drinks were usually put on large plates deposed on a pedestal for eating. The Egyptians made use of various small tables and elevated playing boards. The Chinese also created very early tables in order to pursue the arts of writing and painting, as did people in Mesopotamia, where various metals were used. The Greeks and Romans made more frequent use of tables, notably for eating, although Greek tables were pushed under a bed after use. The Greeks invented a piece of furniture very similar to the guéridon. Tables were made of marble or wood and metal (typically bronze or silver alloys), sometimes with richly ornate legs. Later, the larger rectangular tables were made of separate platforms and pillars. The Romans also introduced a large, semicircular table to Italy, the mensa lunata. Plutarch mentions use of "tables" by Persians. Furniture during the Middle Ages is not as well known as that of earlier or later periods, and most sources show the types used by the nobility. In the Eastern Roman Empire, tables were made of metal or wood, usually with four feet and frequently linked by x-shaped stretchers. Tables for eating were large and often round or semicircular. A combination of a small round table and a lectern seemed very popular as a writing table. In western Europe, the invasions and internecine wars caused most of the knowledge inherited from the classical era to be lost. As a result of the necessary movability, most tables were simple trestle tables, although small round tables made from joinery reappeared during the 15th century and onward. In the Gothic era, the chest became widespread and was often used as a table. Refectory tables first appeared at least as early as the 17th century, as an advancement of the trestle table; these tables were typically quite long and wide and capable of supporting a sizeable banquet in the great hall or other reception room of a castle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(furniture)The table is one of the most important items of furniture used in the home, including the kitchen.Table wooden with 4 wooden turned legs and unvarnished raw wood topNone flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, table, kitchen furniture

A rolling pin is a simple tool used to flatten dough. The first civilisation known to have used the rolling pin was the Etruscans. Their advanced farming ability, along with a tendency to cultivate many plants and animals never before used as food and turn them into sophisticated recipes, were passed to invading Greeks, Romans, and Western Europeans. Thanks to the Etruscans, these cultures are associated with gourmet cooking. To prepare their inventive foods, the Etruscans also developed a wide range of cooking tools, including the rolling pin. Although written recipes did not exist until the fourth century B.C., the Etruscans documented their love of food and its preparation in murals, on vases, and on the walls of their tombs. Cooking wares are displayed with pride; rolling pins appear to have been used first to thin-roll pasta that was shaped with cutting wheels. They also used rolling pins to make bread (which they called puls) from the large number of grains they grew. Natives of the Americas used more primitive bread-making tools that are favoured and unchanged in many villages. Chefs who try to use genuine methods to preserve recipes are also interested in both materials and tools. Hands are used as "rolling pins" for flattening dough against a surface, but also for tossing soft dough between the cook's two hands until it enlarges and thins by handling and gravity. Tortillas are probably the most familiar bread made this way. Over the centuries, rolling pins have been made of many different materials, including long cylinders of baked clay, smooth branches with the bark removed, and glass bottles. As the development of breads and pastries spread from Southern to Western and Northern Europe, wood from local forests was cut and finished for use as rolling pins. The French perfected the solid hardwood pin with tapered ends to roll pastry that is thick in the middle; its weight makes rolling easier. The French also use marble rolling pins for buttery dough worked on a marble slab. Glass is still popular; in Italy, full wine bottles that have been chilled make ideal rolling pins because they are heavy and cool the dough. Countries known for their ceramics make porcelain rolling pins with beautiful decorations painted on the rolling surface; their hollow centres can be filled with cold water (the same principle as the wine bottle), and cork or plastic stoppers cap the ends. Designs for most rolling pins follow long-established practices, although some unusual styles and materials are made and used. Within the family of wooden rolling pins, long and short versions are made as well as those that are solid cylinders (one-piece rolling pins) instead of the familiar style with handles. Very short pins called mini rolling pins make use of short lengths of wood and are useful for one-handed rolling and popular with children and collectors. Mini pins ranging from 5 to 7 in (12.7-17.8 cm) in length are called texturing tools and are produced to create steam holes and decorations in pastry and pie crusts; crafters also use them to imprint clay for art projects. These mini pins are made of hardwoods (usually maple) or plastic. Wood handles are supplied for both wood and plastic tools, however. Blown glass rolling pins are made with straight walls and are solid or hollow. Ceramic rolling pins are also produced in hollow form, and glass and ceramic models can be filled with water and plugged with stoppers. Tapered glass rolling pins with stoppers were made for many centuries when salt imports and exports were prohibited or heavily taxed. The rolling pin containers disguised the true contents. The straight-sided cylinder is a more recent development, although tapered glass pins are still common craft projects made by cutting two wine bottles in half and sealing the two ends together so that the necks serve as handles at each end.Tiny rolling pins are also twisted into shape using formed wire. The pins will not flatten and smooth pastry, and the handles do not turn. The metal pins are popular as kitchen decorations and also to hang pots, pans, and potholders. https://www.encyclopedia.com/sports-and-everyday-life/food-and-drink/food-and-cooking/rolling-pinThe use of the rolling pin to make thin pastry or pasta.Wooden rolling pin with some damage on cylinder section.None.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, rolling pin, cooking, pastry

Wooden spoons were common utensils in colonial days and are still used today. The spoon is an example of kitchen utensils made and used in colonial Australia.Spoon wooden blonde, rod handle, oval shape base with flat top flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, spoon, wooden spoon, kitchen utensil, cooking utensil

This stove brush is shaped to fit into grooves and crevices on a cast iron stove range and fenders. A brush like this would be used in the 19th and early 290th centuries to apply a blackening agent to the metal to clean and preserve it would be polished to make it look more attractive.This object is significant as an example of an item in common use in the 19th and early 20th centuries.Stove brush, wooden with wooden raised handle and black bristles. The bristles at the ends of the brush are longer than in the centre, and flare outwards. The brush' is rounded at one end and pointed at the other.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, cast iron stove, oven range, stove brush, blackening brush, cooking, kitchen equipment, wood fired stove

The design of the corkscrew may have been derived from the gun worm, which was a device from at least the early 1630s, used by men to remove unspent charges from a musket's barrel in a similar fashion. The corkscrew is possibly an English invention, due to the tradition of beer and cider, and the 'Treatise on Cider' by John Worlidge in 1676 describes "binning of tightly corked cider bottles on their sides", although the earliest reference to a corkscrew is, "steel worm used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles" from 1681. In 1795, the first corkscrew patent was granted to the Reverend Samuel Henshall, in England. The clergyman affixed a simple disc, now known as the Henshall Button, between the worm and the shank. The disc prevents the worm from going too deep into the cork, forces the cork to turn with the turning of the crosspiece, and thus breaks the adhesion between the cork and the neck of the bottle. The disc is designed and manufactured slightly concave on the underside, which compresses the top of the cork and helps keep it from breaking apart. The winged corkscrew, sometimes called a cork extractor, butterfly corkscrew, owl corkscrew, Indian corkscrew, or angel corkscrew, has two levers, one on either side of the worm. As the worm is twisted into the cork, the levers are raised. Pushing down the levers draws the cork from the bottle in one smooth motion. The most common design has a rack and pinion connecting the levers to the body. The head of the central shaft is frequently modified to form a bottle opener, or foil cutter, increasing the utility of the device. Corkscrews of this design are particularly popular in household use. In 1880, William Burton Baker was issued British Patent No. 2950 for his double lever corkscrew, with both levers sliding onto the upper end of the shank. The first American patent was in 1930 granted to the Italian Domenico Rosati who emigrated to Chicago, Illinois, to work as bartender before prohibition. Rosati's design had an exposed rack and pinion mechanism. Such design was adapted by other brands as the wine-market grew in popularity. The winged owl version, with two side-plates covering the rack and pinion mechanism, was first designed and manufactured in 1932 by the Spanish industrial designer David Olañeta for his brand BOJ and was later adopted by others, such as the 1936 US Patent No. 98,968 by Richard Smythe marked HOOTCH-OWL https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CorkscrewThis object is significant as an example of an item in common use in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and that was developed further in the 1930s.Winged corkscrew with a T-shaped wooden handle, metal spring and worm-wheel screw section.None.flagstaff hill, flagstaff hill maritime museum and village, warrnambool, maritime museum, maritime village, great ocean road, shipwreck coast, corkscrew, beverages, kitchen equipment, bottle opener

This knife would have been used for food preparation.Knife; wooden handle and shaped metal blade with serrated cutting edge.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, kitchen knife, food preparation

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