This tin container is the No. 8 Universal Bread Maker by Landers, Frary & Clark of New Britain, Connecticut. It won a gold medal at the St. Louis Exposition in 1904.

The instructions embossed on the top are as follows: "Put in all liquids first, then the flour. Turn the handle for 3 minutes. Let the dough rise in the pail. After rising, turn handle until dough forms a ball. Take off the cross piece and lift out dough with the kneader."

Bread machines were made for quite a long time from the 1890s on. They came in different heights and capacities.

The advertisement for the Universal at the time stated that making bread with their machine was superior to hand kneading.

"Directly opposite to hand kneading is the work of the Univrsal. . . .In hand kneading the particles of flour are necessarily pressed together, and the liquid does not thoroughly moisten each particle of the starch granules, while with the bread maker these particles are lightly held apart until thoroughly wetted. . .and kneaded" (Franklin 2003, p. 109).