Thayer’s Universal Tool

PAT. MAY 24, 81 is inscribed on the left side of the tool.

BY W. H. THAYER is inscribed on the right side.

Both inscriptions show wear but are still legible.

This small hand-held tool is as popular with cast iron, tool and gadget collectors as it is with trivet collectors! It was patented on May 24, 1881 by William Henry Thayer of Cleveland, Ohio. Very versatile, it served many purposes … among them trivet, pressing iron or coffee pot stand, stove lid lifter, meat tenderizer, and pie-plate lifter.

● Cast iron, 5 1/2″ x 4″, no feet, 10 ounces.

● Patent was applied for on December 22, 1880.

● US Patent # 241,893 was assigned on May 24, 1881.

Quoted from Thayer’s patent description:

The object of my invention is to produce a simple, cheap, and efficient implement for kitchen use, by which the various utensils therein employed may be readily lifted, carried, and manipulated as desired, and which shall be otherwise useful.

By providing the implement with fingerholes the user is enabled to hold it in any position desired without danger of slipping or turning in the hand.

The patent application and full specifications for this tool can be accessed at Google Patents: Patent 241,893. Here’s the patent illustration.

Update on 5/5/19: A reprint of an instruction sheet illustrating the varied uses for “Thayer’s Household Combination” follows. Many thanks to Bill Garber II, an administrator of the Facebook group The Iron Works! Collectors of Early Iron! for sharing this information.