These are a selection of Universal butter churns made by Landers, Frary & Clark, located in New Britain, Connecticut. They have a clamp on the base to attach them to a counter or table. The gears are mounted horizontal in the lid and the cranking motion is also in a horizontal plane. They came in four sizes with either metal or glass containers. The glass butter churn pictured second from the left is a No. 25, which was advertised as having a 3 pint churning capacity. The glass churns also came in a size No. 15 (1 1/2 pints), 35 (4 pints) and 45 (5 pints). The glass jar will be embossed UNIVERSAL CHURN along with the model number and the company name and city. The three metal churns are stenciled UNIVERSAL BUTTER MERGER AND FAMILY CHURN along with the model number. The butter churn on the left is a No. 115, the smallest size, the third churn from the left is a No. 135 and the churn on the right is a No. 145, which was the largest size. The metal churns also came in a size No. 125. They are all embossed PAT'S. APPLIED FOR on the tops however the three metal churns are also embossed G.R. PAT. 636801 OCT. 1, 1915. This cannot be a United States patent as the U.S. Patent Office issued no patents on October 1, 1915. Possibly this was a European patent number. A U.S. patent was issued for these churns on April 4, 1916. It was granted to Alonzo Warner of New Britain, Connecticut and he assigned it to Landers, Frary & Clark. We have never seen this patent date marked on these butter churns however.
Although the mechanism and dashers are the same for the glass container and the tin container versions, it is interesting that the glass model is referred to as a churn and the tin model carries the title butter merger. Butter mergers were designed to combine one pound of softened butter with one pound (about a pint) of milk. This produced a spreadable product with much less cost and butter fat. The instructions for the metal models did say they would churn butter from cream also. Possibly this difference had to do with the timing of their introduction to the market. We know that the glass models were offered for sale as early as 1914 and the metal models must have been after that since they carry a 1915 date. Merging of milk and butter was common during the food shortages of World War I. It is possible that the introduction of the tin container units coincided with the war and the name was chosen because of the popularity of merging milk and butter at that time.
Landers, Frary & Clark also sold another glass mixer that was similar to the churns. They referred to it as a Mayonnaise Mixer and Cream Whipper (picture). This mixer however had the gears mounted vertically and not hidden in the lid and the cranking motion was also vertical. The paddle had four metal blades rather than two like the churns. The paddle also had a unique motion. Not only did it revolve on the shaft like the churns but it also rotated around the bottom of the jar at the same time it was spinning. These mixers came with a funnel and metering device to add oil to the mayonnaise and also had a small opening with a cover in the top. These mixers were actually patented a year before the churns. The inventor of these mixers was also Alonzo Warner and he was granted a patent for them on April 27, 1915.
Landers, Frary and Clark was a large company established in 1862. They introduced the Universal name for their products in the 1890's. The company produced many household products including bread makers, cake mixers, mayonnaise mixers, toasters, coffee percolators and ranges. In 1954 Landers, Frary and Clark purchased the Dazey Corporation and manufactured the Dazey red top butter churn with their Universal name on it. The company went out of business in 1965.
Click here to go to the page with Dazey red top butter churns.
These are all butter churns that originated in Europe. Many of these butter churns came to the United States when people immigrated. The first two butter churns on the left are German. The first is one liter and the second is a two liter butter churn. Many German butter churns have the hand hold and the large gear in the same plane, where as American butter churns usually have the hand hold perpendicular to the large gear. The jars are usually embossed on the base with the liter size. They usually came with a paper label and did not have embossing on the sides of the jar. The open center paddle on the one liter churn is a style seen on many German butter churns.
The butter churn on the right is a Blow churn which was made in England. It has a logo embossed in an arch. In an arch at the top it says, BLOW BUTTER CHURN 3/30 and in two straight lines at the bottom of the jar it says, MADE IN ENGLAND and 3 IMPERIAL QUARTS.
These butter churns were made by the Culinary Manufacturing Company of Orange, New Jersey. Pictured from left to right are a one, two and four quart churn. We believe there was also a three quart size. The glass jars are not embossed with the quart size. On the two and four quart butter churns the glass jars are embossed:
CULINARY MFG. CO.
ORANGE
N. J.
The one quart jar has no embossing at all. The paddles on these butter churns are a wavy, single piece of wood. The one quart has four holes drilled in it and the two and four quart size have six holes. The gears on these butter churns are not steel (a magnet will not stick to them) and one will often find these tops with the large gear broken.
The Crest churn and the Premier Two Minute Butter Machine in the picture below were also made by the Culinary Mfg. Co.
This is an assortment of small one quart butter churns. The first butter churn on the left is a Crest. The second butter churn is a Premier Two-Minute Butter Machine made by the Culinary Mfg. Co. These two butter churns are nearly identical except on the Crest the main gear is on the opposite side of the frame as the crank and on the Premier Two-Minute the main gear and the crank are on the same side of the frame. These butter churns have 2 gears driving the shaft to increase the gear ratio and the speed that the paddle rotates. Both butter churns were probably made by the Culinary Manufacturing Company. The Premier Two-Minute Churn was listed in a catalog of Dunham, Carrigan & Hayden Company from the early 1920's. This company was a hardware wholesaler based in San Francisco, California. Their catalog listed these butter churns in 1, 2, 3 and 4 quart sizes. The prices were $1.67, $2.00, $2.75 and $3.50 respectively. They were advertised to positively make butter in two minutes and whip cream in one.
The next butter churn is embossed Buttercup Churn-Mixer. Unlike other butter churns that had the frame riveted to the lid this churn's frame and lid were all cast as one piece. This butter churn top is embossed with a June 30, 1930 patent date and was made to go on a one quart fruit jar. We believe this patent date may be an error as the U.S. Patent Office issued no patents on this date. There was a patent granted on June 10, 1930 to Virgil Pyle of Stockton, Missouri for a mixer or churn that was designed to be used on a screw cap fruit jar. We have seen an advertisement for the Buttercup Churn & Mixer sold by the Pyle-Roy Mixer Company of Stockton, Missouri and would assume that this patent went with this butter churn. Virgil Pyle partnered with his brother-in-law, Matthew Roy, to from the Pyle-Roy Mixer Company. There is also another churn made by the Pyle-Roy Mixer Company, however the city is Greenfield, Missouri. That churn also was made to go on a quart fruit jar but the lid was tin and the churn frame and gears were attached to it like other churns. On this churn the patent date is June 10, 1930. The paddles appear the same on both of these churns.
The last butter churn on the right is a Presto churn. These were also made to go on a fruit or canning jar however the main shaft was adjustable in length to accommodate a 1 or 2 quart canning jar. The lid and the dasher are aluminum. The underside of the lid is stamped Presto. Sears sold this churn in their 1935-36 through 1942-43 catalogs although they referred to it as a Bargain Churn or low cost Churn and not a Presto. It did not come with a jar and the cost was 69 cents in the 1935-36 and 1942 catalogs although the price dropped to 54 cents in the 1941 catalog. A similar churn appeared in the 1940-41 Montgomery Ward catalog, sold for 58 cents and was called a Mason Jar Churn.
The butter churn on the left is a two quart Gunn Manufacturing Co. churn made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The jar is embossed only with the quart size and originally would have come with a paper label. The crank arm is embossed: GUNN MFG. CO. PHILA. and the frame is embossed PAT. APPL'D. We have never been able to find if the patent was granted. The paddle on this butter churn is very heavy metal with four twisted fingers on each side.
The butter churn on the right was made by the Thomas Manufacturing Company of Dayton, Ohio. The jars on these churns had a horseshoe logo and edges similar to the Dazey beveled edge churns. The jar is embossed in an arch at the top THE THOMAS MFG. CO. and in a straight line underneath DAYTON, OHIO. There is no size embossed on the glass jar and four quart is the only size we have seen them. The paddle was a single piece of wood with six holes drilled in it and it was held on to the shaft by a bent over cotter pin. The hand hold on the frame has a very square upper corner.
These are glass jar dash churns. The principle is the same as a stoneware dash churn, just on a smaller scale. The wood dasher is moved up and down until butter forms. Several companies sold this style of butter churn. Some companies just sold the wood lid and dasher and the customer supplied a gallon pickle jar or gallon milk bottle. Other churns, such as the butter churns shown above were sold as complete units.
The butter churn on the left was called the Home Buttermaker on the instructions. It was just a wide mouth gallon milk bottle with a wood lid and dasher. These milk bottles had a metal bail handle attached to glass ears on the bottle neck. The instructions for this butter churn did not list a manufacturer. These butter churns are seen quite often.
The butter churn on the right was called the Ole Fashund Mixer. The label claims it will churn butter, mix drinks and mash fruits and vegetables however the directions deal solely with churning butter. This churn was made by the Seven Mfg. Co. of Chicago, Illinois. It was basically a one gallon Hazel-Atlas jar that had threads for a screw cap. A wood lid was added that fit in the neck along with the dasher. It was a very simple butter churn that shows up now and then.
