What Are These Things For? (21 pics)
Its made of really heavy hardwood. Unsure of the age unfortunately. Given by family friend.
A: Its half a Viking chair.
A friend from Michigan posted it and I have no clue. Someone mentioned they thought they saw something similar in an episode of Man in the High Castle, maybe in the kitchen area.
A: It's a jewelry display case. This Art Nouveau interior was designed by Alphonse Marie Mucha in 1900 for the boutique of Persian jeweler, Georges Fouquet.
Gave to me by my now ex-stepfather, he told me it belonged to his grandfather and was used in some war. The thing weights a lot, isn't very big, is hollow, and looks a lot like a bomb. We live in Brazil, and from my knowledge, we weren't involved in many wars. Can someone identify what this is?
A: it is a AN-MK-23 PRACTICE BOMB.
Received as a Christmas gift cannot for the life of me figure out what it’s purpose is.
A: Reverse image search came up with a mason mouth gag. Historically used to keep patients mouth open during surgery to prevent suffocation.
Metallic ring with central slider and numbers engraved.
A: Sundial pendant.
This is about the size of my hand, made of/with some kind of metal (I think copper).
A: Based on the morphology and symbolic motifs appears to be a copper Incan axe head. Pre-Columbian, and definitely real. Could be ceremonial but would depend on size.
Found by my grandfather on a New Jersey beach after WWII.
A: It's a powder flask for a musket.
Fell out of one of my dad's record sleeves... dangerous roach clip or dated 70s hair accessory?
A: Curtain hook. It slides into a pleated curtain.
One of many large concrete troughs along one side of an old railway line, now used as a walking track. They are spaced roughly 50-100 m apart, and only appear on one side of the track where there is a small stream. No obvious bolts or other attachment points. Dad’s legs for scale.
A: The concrete objects are catchpits. They are concrete rings with a horizontal drainpipe entering on one side and another leaving on the opposite side. The bottom of the catchpit is lower than the drainpipes, so as the water flows out of the upstream pipe and into the catchpit it reduces in speed and therefore deposits any silt it was carrying into the bottom of the catchpit. The water then flows into the downstream catchpit, carrying less silt than it did previously. When the level of the silt in the catchpit reaches the bottom of the downstream pipe the silt needs to be removed to keep the system working. This used to be dug out using shovels, (a disgusting job), but is nowadays removed by vacuum pumps. It's a way of helping to keep the drainage system clean. The fact that there's a stream flowing alongside shows that the drainage system isn't working.
Found this in old dumped housewares. It’s a piece of solid glass, so it can’t hold anything inside. It’s about 15cm long and has a plated copper cap.
A: It’s a broken off piece of a towel bar.
We ordered a pacifier from a baby store and received this instead. It’s about 7.”
A: It's an "Automatic Transmission Pressure Switch Manifold M14001."
This came with our son’s new bike. There was nothing about it in the manual Santa left, and a reverse image search found nothing.
A: It's a derailleur guard.
On the ceiling in a hotel. There is a smoke detector in the same room as this. It's completely smooth on all sides besides the gray thing in the middle.
A: It's a PIR sensor. It detects if someone is moving in the room. Usually used for automatic lights or for the alarm.
Got this weird kite-like folding disk thing for Christmas, any ideas?
A: It's a kayak sail.
Ceramic piece with needles on the inside?
A: It’s a frog vase. It’s to hold flowers upright. :)
What is this quaker-looking spread eagled ceramic man‘s function? found a similar item online that’s clearly a teapot, but want to know what this is used for.
A: It's a Toby made by Tony Wood.
At first, I thought this stuff was snow, but I look closer I see it seems to be either cotton or something similar, with sand or salt sprinkled around. It's not cold to the touch, slightly sticky.
A: Yeah definitely batting, which is what one uses for fake snow in a movie (I worked on hallmarks) and yeah sometimes they definitely leave it out over a weekend if they still need that location for shooting.
Got this keychain for Xmas. It requires batteries and the “button” doesn’t do anything. What is this thing!?
A: It looks like a personal alarm. You pull the pin out (the keychain) and it will scream.
This came after ordering an Oshino Shinobu keychain on eBay. No idea why or what. What is this thing?
A: That looks to be a replica of the 'stand arrow' from the very popular manga/anime series: "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure." It is used in the show to awaken one's fighting spirit or 'stand'.
Tiny forks with a thick prong on the left side. The upper fork is of similar size. Probably bought in England. Made of metal. Third pic is of the top right of the case.
A: Smaller are cake forks - Bigger is for serving the cake.
Some kind of stopwatch with a number scaling I don't understand.
A: It's a tachymeter.
