Q: A friend gave me this steamer, which is in good condition. Can you tell me how it was used, what it’s worth, or anything else about it?
A: Charles E. Swartzbaugh founded Peerless Cooker Co. in Buffalo, New York, in 1884. He invented both a steam cooker and a “fireless cooker.” By the early 1900s, the company moved to Toledo, Ohio, and was renamed the Toledo Cooker Co. Swartzbaugh was granted a patent for a steam cooker with “new and useful improvements” on Feb. 5, 1907. His patent drawing shows a funnel at the top of the cooker where water could be poured into a long tube to fill the receptacle at the bottom of the cooker. The funnel had a whistle in it that would make noise when the water level sank too low to cover the end of the tube. The water was heated by putting the cooker over a fire. Then food was placed on the racks and steamed. Swartzbaugh’s improvements allowed either of the two doors to be opened to remove food without disturbing the food on the other shelf. Your steamer doesn’t have the same funnel at the top as the one in the patent drawing, so it may be a later model. Value of your steamer: about $75. (Toledo Cooker Co. was also mentioned in Collectors Concerns in our Feb 23, 2011, ezine.)
