This food chopper would have been used in 18th-19th centuries for any kind of cutting that required a rocking motion. We don't know exactly how it would have been used back then, but you can imagine someone grasping both handles and then cutting their way through vegetables or raw meat to dice them. And if you can't quite picture that, you can pop in to a pizza shop today...you'll see a very similar implement is still in use to carve America's favorite pies!