Old Iron

A member of my chapter was helping sort through items donated for a sale at her local historical society's tag sale and came across this item.

She brought it along to  a chapter meeting for Show and Share, but also in case any one in the chapter would like to become its new owner. Someone indeed did wish to be the new owner and it went home with her to join her collection of unusual kitchen equipment.

So what is this item? It is an iron and the tank at the back is to hold fuel. The fuel is then ignited and the iron heats up as the burners are inside the oval part of the body, heating the bottom plate to enable the iron to do its work.

Gas-pressure irons were manufactured as early as 1900 and some were still around in the 1970's. They were popular before electric steam irons were more affordable and a safer alternative! Some of the gas irons manufacturers made the mistake of having a wooden handle which got hot very quickly and even caught fire!