In the 18th and early 19th centuries, sugar came molded in the shape of hard and dense cones wrapped in blue paper. The nippers were sometimes on a stand so you could put all your strength into forcing the cutting blades through the pieces of sugar-loaf. If they had no stand, the better ones had a piece that stuck out at right angles, and was used to steady the sugar nippers against the edge of the kitchen table, while you gripped and squeezed.

Sugar nipers were a basic household tool.