What is this Georg Jensen thing?
My mother found it somewhere – it’s vintage. Georg Jensen, stainless steel, so it’s Danish, but what is it for? She didn’t know either. I’ve looked for it online for years but no luck, and no, it’s not on the Georg Jensen site anywhere. UPDATE: Anne wins the prize. It’s an orange peeler!
Tags: Danish, Georg Jensen, housewares, implement, kitchenware, modern, mystery, orange peeler, stainless steel, tool
November 8th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
IIRC, it is a letter opener. They still sell it, so the item should be in the online catalog.
November 8th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Kevin, Thank you! Why didn’t I think of that? I guess it seemed too short to be a letter opener. Of course, how silly. Now I’m going to go try it.
November 8th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
Hey!
I thought it might be a mayonnaise scooper (to get all the mayo out of the jar). But it’s so small! Letter opener? I’d lose it before I’d use it.
BTW, I love your blog! Keep up the good work!
November 8th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Looks like it could pop open some cold beer bottles too…
November 8th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
I did try to open a bottle with it once and gashed my hand, so I don’t think so, but that could certainly have been user error. I think Kevin might be right: it’s a letter opener (though Google turns up nothing still). And now I have to go hunt for the thing to try it! It’s in the kitchen drawer somewhere.
November 8th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Its an ORANGE PEELER!!
November 8th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Is it flat?
Could it be a shoehorn?
November 8th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
It’s almost totally flat. Not a shoehorn but that seems like another good guess. The little hooked edge is relatively sharp, though, so I don’t think so. But not really quite sharp enough to be a string-cutter, though maybe it once was?
November 8th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Anne, you win the prize, had there been a prize. It is in fact an orange peeler – http://old.georgjensen.com/English/Collections/Living/Small%20Gifts/Orange%20Peeler.aspx?pagenumber=2
and that’s what I’m going to use it for from now on. Thank you!
November 18th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
I am aware that the mystery has been solved, but I am nonetheless proud that I knew the answer before I’d even read the question!
November 18th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I think this is something we barbarians in North America aren’t as familiar with as Europeans are! All over the world I’ve seen methods for peeling oranges in the most beautiful ways, but around here we mostly claw at them and get that orange peel oil under our fingernails. I watched a child in Thailand make a beautiful, non-sticky, convenient flower out of her orange in under 10 seconds with a little knife and felt completely ashamed of our unimaginative uncouthness around these parts.