Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

Let’s roll into this week’s Heritage Moment by pinning up facts about the notorious kitchen tool, the rolling pin! When we picture this dough compressing tool we often envision an angry pie master wielding their “baking bat” over their heads to ward off any kitchen critters. The truth is the rolling pin has been around long before the concept of chefs or territorial kitchen moms. In fact, both the brown tufted capuchin and some chimpanzee communities have been known to use ‘rolling pin’ like branches and rocks to flatten or crush seeds and insects. One origin theory is that it came from the Etruscans who, in the 9th century BCE, developed a wide range of cooking tools including the rolling pin. They thin-rolled pasta that was shaped with cutting wheels and mastered various bread dishes, which they termed as ‘puls.’ Many different versions of the rolling pin have emerged over the centuries that were sometimes made of baked clay, smooth bark less branches, and glass bottles, but the most common form of the technology today was patented by J.W. Reed in the late nineteenth century. His invention added the basic component of handles with a centre rod that prevented the cooks from touching pastries with their hands. This rolling pin in our collection hailed from Vegreville and was used by Ruby Berezon’s mother, Pearl. They moved to Wetaskiwin in the mid-2000s and we imagine this rolled over numerous pie crusts on the counter. If you are interested in taking a bite out of some local baked goods or more eager to test their aerial capabilities at a political target, join us Sunday, May 29 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM for our WDHM Youth Network Pie A Politician Fundraiser. Pie is sure to fly with your aim at the Heritage Museum Centre!