A crumber (also called a table crumber) is a tool designed to remove crumbs from a

tablecloth A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and ...

, used especially in

fine dining Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

situations. The modern form of the crumber was invented in 1939 by John Henry Miller, owner of a restaurant on West Fayette Street in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The crumber was intended to be carried "conveniently in the pocket", and less conspicuous than the brush and pan customarily used to remove crumbs after the meal. Miller was granted a

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

for his invention in 1941, obtained another patent for improvements in 1946, and ultimately and later sold his patents to the Ray Machine company of Baltimore, which still manufactures and sells the tool. As of 2010, Ray Machine was selling about 85,000 crumbers per year. A typical Table Crumber is approximately 6 inches in length, 1/2 inch in girth, curved, and made of metal, but a wide variety of designs exist.Kimberly Stevens
"A Crumber for Every Household"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', June 7, 2000.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Crumbers—History
Ray Machine Inc. Serving and dining Economy of Baltimore