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The History Mystery #74

This photograph is a Tungsten Mine operation somewhere in Madera County taken in August of 1954.

Tungsten has the highest melting point of any metal and was used in incandescent light bulbs and over 15,000 products during WWII. It makes any alloy much stronger and is credited with helping the USA to victory in WWII.

Where was this particular mine located and are there any folks still around that remember friends or relatives working in a tungsten operation in our area?

We have a tungsten mine booklet at the Raymond Museum with some locations noted but aren’t sure where all the tungsten mines were.

Thank you for any information!
Raymond Museum

History Mystery #73 Follow-Up

Thanks for all the comments. There were 6 posted on SNO website and 67 on the Facebook page. This is the most comments we have ever had – by far. We not only learned this item is a glass rolling pin, but that it had different ways to use it. Some of the comments are below:

“You fill the inner part with ice and cold water to roll out pastry crust, keeping the butter or shortening from warming up. The purpose is to create the flakiest of crust or cookie.”

“Most Glass Rolling Pins are manufactured, not hand blown and are dated 1921-1941. Rolling-Rite glass rolling pins were popular. They had tin screw tops but some had cork tops. Price range $9 -$60 (approx. depending on buyer). Information based on basic research.”

“Rolling pin. Works great. Dough does not stick as much.”

“Put warm water in if you need to soften the dough or ice water in if the dough is sticky.”

“Yep, rolling pin. I had one back in the 70s that I used to store eggs in for camping. It held lots of eggs, kept in ice chest, poured just enough for making breakfast. ????”

“I’ve never seen this before but now I want one!”

“I’ll be darned – never had a clue. The bakers showed up in force on this one. Good job ladies.”

“Mine has a screen end – for powdered sugar?”

One comment

  1. Strawberry Mine was a tungsten mine, and by looking at the types of trees in the background it looks like the elevation that Strawberry Mine is located.

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