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Grinder, Food

Object number2016.85.1

Manufacturer Savoy Press Manufacturing Company

OriginPhiladelphia, PA

MediumWood; Iron; Paint

Credit LineEstate of Joseph and Louise Kolman

DescriptionWood and metal grape grinder. Trapezoidal wooden box with metal grinding mechanism inside. Box sits atop two wooden cross beams with undercut arches on each end. Wooden components are connected by cast iron framework. Iron crank and wheel on one side operates two gears that work the grinder. Wheel has red paint remnants. Crank has wooden handle. Maker's marks on the exterior side of the wheel. Maker's marks on each metal cross beam framework.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 16.75 × 26.625 × 26 in. (42.5 × 67.6 × 66 cm)
MarksRaised text on the exterior side of the wheel "1C SAVOY PRESS MFG CO PHILA. PA."
Raised text on each metal cross beam framework: at center "SAVOIA" and in top right corner "10".
Historical NotesGrape grinder that belonged to the donor’s parents Joseph and Louise Kolman. Joseph and Louise were from Sveta Ana (Saint Ann), Slovenia. They came from farming families and hoped to escape communist Yugoslavia and make it to America. Joseph’s aunt Mary Scherling, lived in Pittsburgh, and seemed to have a good life, she offered to help get Joseph to Pittsburgh. In 1956, Joseph escaped across the border to Austria and made his way to Pittsburgh in 1957. Mary was able to escape to Austria and then to Pittsburgh two years later with their daughter Milly. Joseph connected with his aunt and the Slovenian community in Pittsburgh. He found an apartment on Chestnut Street in the Northside above the Bucsek’s butcher shop (another Slovenian family). Joseph got a job welding, but ended up being a machinist. The family ended up living on Scherling Street until Louise and Josephs deaths. The Kolman’s longed for some connection to Slovenia, with a strong tradition of wine-making, and so they bought a grape grinder and wine press and began making homemade wine. They bought their grapes in the Erie/North West Pennsylvania region.

Previous owner Joseph Kolman

Previous owner Louise Kolman

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