Kiss Knocker by Thomas Mills 1880
Taffy and other soft candies are hard to cut. They are stretchy so they need to be cut and torn to cut into pieces. That is what this machine does. The taffy or caramels are fed in from one end, cut with the big knives that only touch the candy to cut it (avoiding sticking) and then the brass fly device in the front spins and tears the candy. At this point we are concentrating on hard candies, so this machine has not yet been used, but we hope to go there at some point. This machine came from a candy shop in Michigan.
Ribbon Candy Machine by Thomas Mills 1886
This machine was originally known as a candy crimper. It takes a sheet of candy and makes perfect folds into it to make the wavy Christmas ribbon candy we all know and love. This machine still needs some love before it can make candy, we hope to have it ready for the 2011 holiday season. Keep your fingers crossed. One of the cool things about this machine is we still have its original shipping box from the 1880's.
Snap Stick Candy Machine - 1870
This is an unusual machine. It makes textured strips of candy that can be broken to the length you want to eat them in. This machine can also be used to make a consistent strip of candy that can be made into Christmas ribbon candy and other cool treats.
Drop Roller - by J. Gardner prior to 1859
This machine uses inter changeable rollers to produce candy. A sheet of candy cooled to the consistency of clay is fed through these rollers and let cool in sheets. When cool these sheets are lifted and "dropped" to break the large sheet into the individual pieces. This is where sweets like "lemon drops" and "cough drops" got their names.
Pillow Mint Machine or Cut-Drop Machine- by Thomas Mills and Bros - 1895
This machine uses a cutting gear and an ejection gear to make small candies that were usually mints and often found in bowls next to cash registers of restaurants. This is the newest candy machine we have.
To quote the vintage catalog we have from this company.
"This cut represents our Sour or Lemon-Drop Cutter, which is used for a large variety of cut-drops in different flavored candies, such as acid, lemon, mint, horehound and many other cough mixtures
The lower wheel carries the steel knives, which are secured to it, and the brass ring which they support, thus allowing the small cog-wheel to be held secure in its position, in order to push the candy from between the knives, where it is pressed and cut by the pressure of the top wheel on the edge of the knives. The Cut-Drops and Dice-Lump Machines are made larger and heavier, in proportion to the work to be performed by the same."
This is a No. 0 Special Size for small cuts.
Humbug Candy Machine - Thomas Mills and Bros. - 1865
This very rare machine cuts a rope of candy into pieces with cuts at right angles from each other. This makes the distinctive Humbug shape. These machines were popular, but at this time we think this is one of five surviving machines and possibly the only one still used in candy production.
To quote the vintage catalog we have from this company.
"The candy is fed into this machine either in round or flat stick form and is cut into uniform pieces of a peculiar shape known to the trade as "humbugs", "peach blossoms," "American cuts" etc."
This appears to be a No. 2 size Humbug machine, and it is an early model without the finger guard.