Scarce Large BRASS Funnel to Fill Feed or Flour Sacks

Pricing & History

Sold for
Start Free Trial or Sign In to see what it's worth.
Sold Date
Source eBay

This is a large and rare brass funnel. Measures 7 1/2 inches across at the top and 5 1/4 inch tall. The funnel is oval because it was used at grain mills or general stores to fill the smaller canvas sacks for sale with chicken feed or flour. Seams are folded and high quality. Beautiful rare piece. General Stores In the United States, Australia, and Canada a general store is a retailer located in a small town or in a rural area with a broad selection of merchandise crammed into a relatively small space where people from the town and surrounding rural areas would come to purchase all their general goods, both in stock and special order from larger cities. The late nineteenth century general store was the original one-stop shop. Often the first retail establishment built in a town, farmers and townspeople bought everyday items like hardware, bulk foods, and clothing from their local general store.In the United Kingdom, similar retailers tend to be called a village shop in rural areas or a corner shop in urban or suburban settings. The band Cornershop take their name from this after the common perception of Indian immigrants as owning corner shops.General stores often sell important food items such as milk and bread, and various household goods such as hardware and electrical supplies. The concept of the general store is very old, and although some still exist, there are far fewer than there once were, due to urbanization, the influx of suburban community development, and the relatively recent phenomenon of big-box stores.Many small town general stores also housed the town's post office, and the store served as a gathering place for townspeople and farmers. The store’s potbelly stove, checkerboards, and pickle barrels attracted people to gather, talk, play games, and pass the time.Most general stores in small, rural towns used the entire first floor to display the retail merchandise. To maximize the storage and display of multiple items, storeowners used every open space for storage. Shelves were built into walls instead of windows. Items were stacked on the floor in the middle of the store; piled on counters; shifted onto shelves; in barrels, boxes and bins; and hung from the ceiling on hooks.Storeowners purchased items such as coffee, flour, sugar, crackers, spices, pickles, vinegar, molasses, kerosene, and others in bulk quantities, and measured the desired amount into jugs and bags for customers. Canned and tinned items were some of the few food items pre-packaged. Sardines, oysters and peaches were among the most popular canned items sold in general stores. Larger items such as farm equipment, sewing machines, and cook stoves were special ordered by the storeowner for the customer.Most small town stores issued in-store credit for farm families who brought in butter and eggs to sell. The storeowner attached a price to the goods, and then credited the amount to the family. The family had that amount of money removed from their next set of purchases.During the first half of the 20th century, general stores were displaced in many areas by many different types of specialized retailers. But from the 1960s through the 1990s, many small specialized retailers were in turn crushed by the so-called "category killers," which are "big-box" wholesale-type retailers large enough to carry the majority of best-selling goods in a specific category like sporting goods or office supplies.However, the convenience inherent in the general store been revived in the form of the modern convenience store and the hypermarket, which can be seen as taking the general store or convenience store concept to its largest possible implementation. Gristmill A gristmill or grist mill is a building in which grain is ground into flour, or the grinding mechanism itself. In many countries these are referred to as corn mills or flour mills. History Early history The Greek geographer Strabo reports in his Geography a water-powered ... read more

Items in the Price Guide are obtained exclusively from licensors and partners solely for our members’ research needs.

Flag item for content or copyright

If this item contains incorrect or inappropriate information please contact us here to flag it for review.

If you are the originator/copyright holder of this photo/item and would prefer it be excluded from our community, contact us here for removal.