We respectfully offer you to find a comfortable, quiet place to relax as you prepare to travel back in time…no time machine necessary. Life was rough. Yet, such inventions as our old fashioned cheese grater quickly became a favorite kitchen item as word of its existence quickly traveled throughout the Wild West, mostly by horseback. Luckily, consider yourself special as a small number of those who will know what it was like in the old fashioned days when our one-of-a-kind kitchen grater was a part of almost every meal from those who worked the saloons in the town square where an ice-cold beer and scrambled eggs with grated cheddar cheese was the grub of the day to traveling on horseback through rugged, dangerous trails where cheese was the only means of nutrition. Now that you’re comfortable, allow me to guide you on this adventure as we travel back in time…

Back in the day, back in 1819, Jacob Bromwell, inventor, father, and family man, was the only pioneer known to perfect the Morgan’s Famous Grater also known as our tin grater or stainless grater amongst you smart history buffs who are ‘in the know’. Our four sided grater has been known to serve such uses as providing calcium to mouth-watering scrambled eggs, heavenly homemade muffins, and oatmeal on a chilly day to building strong bones, helping lose weight, and keeping your kidneys in good health. Back in the old days when our country was young and the west was still being explored by such folks as Lewis & Clark, Jacob Bromwell mysteriously knew his Morgan’s Famous Grater would not only be useful for grandma concerned about her family’s health, but those folks living along the river catching mackerel and tuna where adding grated cheese to an already healthy, delicious meal would surely ‘hit the spot’.

We at Jacob Bromwell believe knowing the history of the Morgan’s Famous Grater would give a further appreciation of our bromwell grater. The invention of the cheese grater is generally attributed to François Boullier, a citizen of Paris, France in the 1540's. The first grater was made out of pewter and is now on display at the Muséum du Havre (in Le Havre, France). The grater was invented as a result of the cheese surplus in the first half of the 16th century. The surplus is recorded in detail in Jaques Debonier's Encyclopaedic History of Cheese (1854). According to Debonier, the surplus is the result of the consumption of meat which was discouraged due to health reasons. Farmers, due to the drop in meat demand, converted much of their operation to dairy, which accounted for the ‘explosion’ of cheese varieties in the 16th century. However, the market was quickly overloaded with cheese and it began to sit in great quantities in storage. Some of the newly discovered cheese varieties hardened over time.

Boullier developed the grater, which he used to convert the hard cheese into a marketable table condiment, which quickly became popular. The grater saw a new growth of popularity among the wealthy citizens of Paris in the 1540s and early 1550s. In 1555, however, a drought stuck most of Europe, and it quickly lessened the amount of dairy. As soon as it began, the cheese surplus ended. With the rise in price of cheese, it was soon considered a special, expensive treat and the grater only remained in use with the rich folks. By the 1580's, the grater and grated cheese had all but disappeared from French recipes and meals.