Illustration from Breakfast, Dinner and Supper, by Maud C. Cooke

My grandmother gave me a number of early kitchen tools, most of which I could identify. One, however stumped me. It was cast iron and no one I asked could come up with its use. Many suggestions but …

This weekend our house is to be on a house tour and I was straightening up my cook book shelves and on the highest—I need a ladder to reach it—I keep old cookbooks. One, Breakfast, Dinner and Supper, by Maud C. Cooke, 1897 had illustrations of different tools and there it was page 104. A FISH SCALER.

Engraving of cast iron Fish Scaler c. 1897

Maud C. Cooke tells:
“Pour vinegar over fresh fish to make the scales come off easily…To scale a fish hold it by the tail under water (which is salted) in a deep pan… scrape the scales from the tail towards the head. The scales will come off easier under water and will fall to the bottom of the pan instead of flying about.”