Lower East Side Deli Used This Machine, Can You Guess What It Is?

Can you guess what this contraption is?

Give up? It's an old apple peeling machine, that looks more like a sewing machine, and it's the quintessential item to tell the story of Jewish immigrants in the Lower East Side. It's also one of the centerfolds of the new exhibit, New York at its Core, coming to the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) on Nov. 18 about the history of the city from the 1600s to today.

The museum is releasing mini documentary teaser clips for the exhibit coming in November. The latest clip released Tuesday night showcases the apple peeler as integral to the Jewish deli Russ & Daughters' process of finding its place in the LES. The apple peeler, a rusty ominous looking machine, was originally used to peel the apples used in the herring salad, an added ingredient to a traditional Jewish dish that made it stand out. They still sell the same herring salad with apples at Russ & Daughters.

"Food that comes to people's plates because of their ethnic Jewish traditions or out of necessity then gets transformed, adopted, adapted and elevated into delicacies," says Sarah Henry, deputy director and chief curator of the MCNY.

New York at its Core is billed as the "first permanent exhibition to explore New York City's dramatic four-century history from Dutch settlement to post-WWII 'capital of the world,' to the challenges and opportunities 'the city that never sleeps' faces in the future," according to an April press release.

Images courtesy of Museum of the City of New York