NAVIGATION

In 19th century America, cooking consisted of many different sorts of pie which came to be known as the “Queen of the Yankee Cuisine’. Pies were often eaten at all three meals a day in both sweet and savoury forms.
Good cooks were a rarity at sea and many of the ordinary whalers problems on board ship stemmed from the boring bad food that was continually served up. These jaggers or pie crimpers were therefore made as fond mementos on board ship for the good cook back at home. These devices would seal piecrusts, cut biscuits and pastry and crimp pie strips. They required both skill and experience to make and the hours of difficult carving meant that novice scrimshanders did not tackle them.