Trio of Chocolate Molds

Name/Title

Trio of Chocolate Molds

Context

These Santa figurines are tin chocolate molds. Known as double-molds, they are held closed by clips. The first molds were created in Europe around 1830 with the help of tin-coated metal sheets pressed into shapes. In the early years, plaster molds were used to create basic casts. With the development of large pressing machines, the first metal molds were manufactured. In the late 1880s, US companies began manufacturing chocolate molds, but Germany remained the largest supplier to the US until the early 1900s. It is very likely that the NCHM molds come from a German manufacturer.

Acquisition

Accession

2013.06

Source or Donor

Barbara Adams

Acquisition Method

Gift