Ricketts & Thorp Bread Slicer – Manually powered

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c. 1940

Overview

This bread slicer is labelled belonging to the Department of Defence. This style of bread slicer was commonly used during and after the Second World War in military kitchens.
The slicer was operated by pulling and pushing a travelling metal blade fixed in a wooden frame. The frame is mounted in a supporting cradle which includes a wooden ‘stop’ for bracing on the edge of a table or bench, and a 15cm x 15cm box for holding firm the bread being sliced.
The blade frame has a cast iron handle mounted at one end, used for pulling and pushing. On the other end of the frame is a cast iron stirrup with an adjustable wingnut screw, used to alter the thickness of the slice.

Historical information

The Ricketts & Thorp company was established in 1911 and became reputable cabinet makers based in the southern Sydney suburb of Rockdale. During the Second World War the company’s output was devoted almost entirely to defence production including the construction of Mosquito Bombers. Other defence products were Owen gun butts made out of Queensland maple, jungle knife handles out of jarrah, ammunition boxes, jettison belly tanks for aircraft and trestle tables for the Army

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2024.156

Item type

Themes

Material

Width

730 mm

Height or length

260 mm

Depth

260 mm

Inscriptions and markings

Stamped in the top of the cradle is D↑D. This is the mark of the Australian Department of Defence. This mark of the Board Arrow was adopted by the Australian Army Ordinance Department at the beginning of the 20th century

Keywords

Department of Defence

Bread Slicer

Year

c. 1940

Related Objects

Parent records

ROOM 1.18 The Dairy Room

Busselton Historical Society

Organisation Details
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