Fluting Iron Rocker
date: label: date made
content: ca 1872
notes: label: Description
content: Rectangular piece of plain sheet metal with a corrugated piece riveted to its face that is then bent into a semicircle and screwed into a turned wooden handle or grip. Inscribed "#7" inside rocker. Shadow of square label or tag at top center of handle. No other marks.
label: Description
content: Maker not known; highly likely it was on the corresponding bed or plate. The rocker is identical to that depicted in U.S. Patent No. 128,168, for a "fluting-apparatus" granted to Francis B. Perkins of Elgin, IL, on June 18, 1872 (the "Elgin Fluter"). It is also made of non-ferrous metal; Perkins advocated using brass sheet based on the metal's ductility and his belief brass would not soil fabrics (see Berney, Pressing Irons and Trivets [1977], no. 92C, p. 50).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of W. B. Lincoln, Jr.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.307541.0009
label: catalog number
content: 307541.0009
label: accession number
content: 307541
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rocker, fluting iron
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: sheet, brass (rocker material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (handle material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (screws material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/4 in x 4 7/8 in x 3 1/4 in; 8.255 cm x 12.3825 cm x 8.255 cm