Bread crumbing machineIn 1895, black American inventor Joseph Lee was issued a patent for a "Bread Crumbing Machine" (U.S. No. 540,553). The invention was intended "for use in hotels or restaurants, where a large quantity of bread crumbs are used in cooking." A series of rotating combs of crumbling or tearing fingers on several axles are driven by pinions from a handle. The enclosure has a perforated bottom to collect the crumbs in a trough below. The patent suggested the use to crush and crumb the scraps and crusts of bread which come from the table, "effecting a great saving" in bread waste. Fresh bread, also, could be readily crumbed and reduced to proper fineness. The previous year he received a patent for a "Kneading Machine." |
