ALTAMONT — If you’re looking for that labor-saving and efficient gadget or appliance for your kitchen, you might want to check the Sears catalogue — from the 19th-Century.

In the 21st Century, the Shaws have brought the same gadgets and gizmos from the pages of history books to the Altamont Fair.

It all started eight years ago when Mary and Allyn Shaws love for each other grew into a marriage, and their love for old-fashioned machines grew into a lifestyle. Collecting antique machines together, the couple have moved their hobby from the basement to the garage.
"I’m his apprentice. I teach him the kitchen gadgets and I learn how to work on the gas engines," said Mary Shaw.
"I’m the only guy who has the nerve to spend his wife’s paycheck before she even comes home," Allyn Shaw said pointing to a 19th-Century meat cutter on display. He bought the antique gadget for his wife several years ago.
"I knew it would be something special," Mary Shaw said with a smile, recalling the event.

The Shaws have brought meat choppers, grinders for seasonings, paring machines, butter and cheese churns, sewing machines, and other gadgets loaded with springs and cast-iron gears to the fairgrounds.

They demonstrated a sample of their old-fashioned treasures inside of the Grange building on Tuesday. Both Mary and Allyn Shaw are members of the Ravena and Bethlehem Grange and live in Greenville in Greene County.
"This is our first time bringing these out to the fair"These are labor-saving machines used before electricity," Mary Shaw said. "I actually use some of these at home"We encourage people to try them for themselves and see what it was like back then."

When fair-goers walked up to the row of meat-chopping machines, their eyes lit up as they cranked the handles, causing cast-iron gears to spin and small metal beams with chopping blades to rise and fall into a large metal cauldron.
Many of the machines use "walking beam mechanisms," the same used in the big oil pumps. Adults and children alike were quickly mesmerized by the mechanized wonders that the Shaws have revitalized.

Restoration

The couple not only collect the antiques, but they also restore them to their original condition.

Allyn Shaw restored a butter churn once used in 1800s. He took gears apart and oiled them, cleaned out the inside of the churn, and repainted and relabeled it.
"It was completely covered in rust"There was no paint on it and we reprinted the label," said Mary Shaw. "You could tell where the original label was from the rust spots"Allyn did a wonderful job on it."

The only thing that’s not original is the new paper label, she said.
"It’s done in stages," Allyn Shaw said of his work. "You can do anything; you just need a little time."

The Shaws said that they find their antiques anywhere they can, including antiques stores, relatives’ basements or attics, the Internet, and yes, eBay.
"I’ve been collecting a long time," Allyn Shaw said. "Wherever we can find them, that’s where they come from."

Same of the Shaws gadgets purred away quietly Tuesday as metal gears spun, while others made loud metallic clacks and bangs. However, Mary Shaw said, all of the machines have withstood the test of time.

Machines that last

That is part of the reason she enjoys displaying the machines. In a modern society apt to throw away short-lived appliances, these old-fashioned machines retain a piece of American history and rekindle people’s interest in their own past, she said.
"When they started going to nylon gears and light metal aluminum gears, they didn’t last as long"Sure they were lightweight and easier to use, but where are they now"" asked Mary Shaw. "Many people tell us they still see those meat grinders with the big handles hanging in their parents’ kitchens."

The chopping machines displayed by the Shaws were used for chopping every type of food, not only meat, but were not likely to be found in every household.
"It will chop anything"including anything you don’t want, like fingers," Mary Shaw said. "But the choppers were not as common. We suspect they were created and used in areas where large amounts of food was needed,"—places like resorts and hotels, lumber yards and work camps, ships and ports, and military forts.

Sewing machines were more common, Shaw said, but were still not found in every household.
"The most common sewing machines were the treadle machines"but it was between $12 and $15 for a plain sewing machine, and that was a lot of money back then," she said. "In some communities, they would pool their resources to buy one"and have sort of a time-share system where you had the sewing machine on certain days."

The Shaws had a Jones sewing machine on display, but said that it was not a common machine sold on the East Coast in the United States.
"You don’t find Jones machines in the eastern part of the country because Singer had a hold on the East," said Mary Shaw. "So Jones, an English company, went West. But, as the economy got better and people could afford more, they made their way over."

The Shaws have shown their equipment at other events in the area, but both said they would like to come back to Altamont next year to bring some different gadgets for people to enjoy.

The oldest piece of equipment that the Shaws own is from the 1850s, according to Allyn Shaw, who added that he just likes having a hobby that others can enjoy, too.
"This is my hobby." he said. "When I go home at night, this is what I do."