What Are These Things For? (24 pics)
Small wooden thing found at antique store. Flat on one side. Banana for scale.
A: It's a Tajuela.
What is this very well defined area of dead grass in a park near my home, demarcated by a chalk line?
A: This is an out of bounds line for disc golf. Not landscape related. The cement pad is the tee box, and the pole has the tee sign on it. They draw the lines usually for tournaments so there is no maybes about a disc being in or out. It's out if none of the disc contacts the line or in bound area (the out of bound being the dead grass).
What is this cooking or fire-related structure in my yard?
A: Load wood into metal door and start fire. Drag coals that fall down thru grating out into the open with long shovel. Grill meat above the coals you pull out. It's missing the cooking rack on the outside.
WITT Silver plated scoop. My grandma is getting rid of a bunch of old silverware. There's no writing anywhere on it. The little scoop may or may not be a part of it.
A: It's a sugar scuttle.
In the middle of the wall in my 1906 house; there is also one on the other side of the wall and one in a different room without a buddy in the other side of the wall.
A: It's a capped off gas line from when they used gas lighting.
The Strange Chair with a Bowl Attachment in my Workplace Bathroom.
A: It's a first aid chair.
Found from set Dec on film set, no one knows what this is. Handle is about three feet, circle is around 10″ diameter
A: It's a handle attachment for a commercial blower vacuum. We used to use them to remove/install insulation in attics.
Piece of pottery found on the beach. Possibly a fragment of an old medical container?
A: In Traversetolo Italy there is a porcelain tiles manufacturing company! Ceramica Gresparma Spa! Specialized in red stoneware for balcony flooring and other outdoor tiles solutions. So that OP is a back of a tile.
Old object with mirror, foldable, can be opened and from "Longworth."
A: It is a laryngoscope.
I know this isn't exactly an object but was hoping you guys could still help me out. What is this purple smoke?
A: Yep it's a byproduct of burning rubbish with a high iodine content. Newspaper article on something similar happening in Canada.
9 inch Aluminum bowl with stamped floral pattern, two handles and a fixed center-piece with holes.
A: Nut bowl. The nutcracker is stored upside down in the two larger holes. The smaller holes are for the individual nut picks.
I've seen this before. Just found on the floor of hotel laundry room 2000 miles away from where I've ever been. So, it's not mine. It's Dense, heavier than it looks. Almost like stone, but not that heavy. When I was a kid I found one and used it as a chalk marker. What is this thing?
A: That is a soapstone crayon.
It is used by welders to mark out stock as the white markings are easily visible on dark steel and the natural soapstone resists high temperatures and doesn’t burn off when welding or cutting. Welders and engineers will carry these around in their pockets like pencils.
Found this digging around the mouth of a major Caribbean harbor (on my property). Did this come out of a cannon?
A: 100% a cannonball.
What is this metallic construction found in the middle of nowhere in the Swiss Alps? It’s wrapped with barbed wire.
A: I did a reverse image search and it’s a snow and/or rain gauge. Unfortunately, all the images were either from stock photo sellers with no explanation of the actual device, or in a language other than English.
What are these red things? They are on the steps of a church in the city I live in. They don’t have wheels but they are easy to move.
A: Plant stands for weddings.
Cage-like attachment on a door. About eye height. Includes an opening to the other side. It's in an old building repurposed as a restaurant. No idea what it used to be.
A: Speak easy door security. Edit to clarify this is a security peek, not exclusive to a speak easy.
Mooth 500g oval shaped chrome plated weight?
A: Manual scale calibration. It’s so you know the exact weight of an object when you compare it to another object, want to tare the scale, etc.
What is this wooden piece of furniture?
A: This is a valet stand for suits.
What is this little button on the inside of my bathroom doorframe?
A: It's a door jamb switch (an old one). Two common purposes, could have turned on the lights when the door was closed, or part of an alarm system (which I don't think would be likey for a bathroom).
This was found in an antique box, the instructions mention a rack but no rack was found.
A: Its part of a Mah-Jongg set.
Pluggable whatchamacallit delivered from Amazon, without any invoice or bill of lading. Reverse google search didn't show anything. Probably shipped indiscriminately to random recipients so positive reviews on Amazon may be posted. We're just curious what this thing might be.
A: It's an electric honey knife/scraper. Beekeepers can use them to uncap honey cells. If you search Amazon for them, this exact model comes up.
Modular curved wooden pieces with two 1/2″ holes in each segment. Only one hole in each segment goes completely through the wood for a simple wooden dowel to keep it all together. The other hole only goes halfway. Bought at thrift shop.
A: The closest thing I found that looks similar is a candle holder from Denmark.
