I was going to play “Name that antique” but the power of Google was the victor. Most items that my grandparents have they can quickly identify, name the approximate year it was used or made, and tell a story about how someone in their family put it to work.

Not with this one. We had no idea when it was made, and our best guess was a coffee/tea or spice grinder.

We were right, for the most part. After a little searching, I found that this little antique Italian F&B Tre-Spade metal grinder was made between 1900 and 1909. Tre-Spade has been a family run business based in the North of Italy near Turin since 1894. Originally set up to produce ‘hot-forged’ hardware tools they began producing coffee grinders such as this one a few years later.

We even played “Smell that antique” to see if it had an identifying odor. Grandpa just said it smelled like old metal.

Until we walk again …