Thursday, October 17, 2024

Revealed: 2024 Edition Mystery Objects

Another Mystery Object identification quiz has come and gone.
There were six objects pictured, and all were correctly identified except for #1, the Bee item.

Pipistrello was the “winner” with four correct identifications, followed closely by Tundra Bunny (three-and-a-half correct) and Mariette and Rosemary, each with three correct answers.

Congratulations to all the successful entrants, and to all those who wrote in with such interesting answers. Often even the incorrect answers provide a lot of illumination on the objects, highlighting their history and related forms.

Here are the answers to the 2024 mystery objects:




#1  Scatter Tag for Coal Delivery Service 

This was the object that caused the greatest confusion, and which no one guessed correctly. I imagine the problem was the bee decoration, which led to thoughts of bees and honey, whereas the only bee connection was with the Darbee coal company name. The Darbee brand was apparently used by Sigmon Coal in Coalgood (also known as Mary Helen), in Harlan County, Kentucky.
 
Years ago, many houses had coal-burning furnaces, and had their coal delivered to a coal bin in the basement. There was often considerable competition among the coal companies, and they would throw in a handful of scatter tags with each delivery to remind customers where to re-order.

These scatter tags, like the Darbee one, were colorful and easy to spot, and being made of foil or cardboard, would burn up readily with the coal.

There are innumerable varieties of scatter tags, made in many shapes, and they have been a popular collectible for years. It seems that most of those that survived were from unused supplies, as any plucked from the coal pile would likely be dented and covered with black coal dust, although I am sure that did not deter some juvenile collectors.

This colorful Red Clover Coal tag added a touch of elegance as well as color. 

This cardboard one from the Green River Fuel Company looks exactly like a milk bottle cap (I’ll bet a lot of scatter tags were made with the same card stock and machinery). The fact that it is from Mogg, Kentucky, a ghost town, makes it extra appealing to me.

 

Here is an advertising blotter from 1940 that lets you imagine these tags sprinkled among the black lumps of coal.


I spoke too soon. Looking through my files, I found this Grenadier tag that has obviously spent some time with the coal. We see that “It Has Been Pine-O Processed. Note the Fragrance.” Although I’m sure that plain burning coal didn’t smell any too good, as one who hates all perfumes, that sounds like my worst nightmare.


Scatter tags alone not providing enough nirvana for some coal companies, they reinforced the tags with these brass plaques nailed to the coal been, yet another reminder with whom to do business. This one advertises Day E. Hixson dealing in Old Company’s Lehigh Coal, a coal for which there is no shortage of the famous red dot scatter tags illustrated on the plaque (or the coal itself--it is still available). There is truly no end to the artifact trail from home coal delivery.




#2 Retractable Champagne Stirrer or Swizzle Stick

This was correctly identified by Mariette, Tundra Bunny, Pipistrello, Rosemary, The Vintage Contessa and Jenny Woolf. Debra gets partial credit by identifying it as a whisk, but not specifying what for.

I should have guessed that this would be the most identified item, after that earlier post in which a number of readers thought that the baby holding a bunch of keys was getting into the liquor cabinet.

Back in the early 20th century, it was stylish to own one of these champagne stirrers. Despite many people appreciating champagne for its fizz, apparently some people did not like the bubbles, so stirring it would make it flat. On the other hand, swizzle sticks were also used to mix or froth up other types of mixed drinks, so you can take your pick, more bubbles or fewer.

Most of these were made in sterling silver or gold, and I imagine that they were honorific gifts bought at stores like Tiffany, Cartier, or Asprey’s “for the person who had everything.” Probably they were never much used, at least to take to a party, as using them would render them wet and probably sticky, and even after rinsing not desirable to put back in a case or pocket. For use at home there were non-retractable versions, although for home use the retractable ones would protect the delicate tines.

Here is the same stirrer in the closed position.

 

 

#3  Hay Knife

Mariette, Rosemary and Pipistrello all identified this item.

These large hay knives were common farm tools, used to cut apart bales of hay or straw. There are videos of them being used on Youtube.  






#4  Rotary Telephone Dialer

Tundra Bunny and Rosemary both recognized this item.

Remember when dial telephones were everywhere? The dials would become dirty and possibly germ-laden. Moreover, many women wore white gloves which could become soiled by dialing a rotary telephone.

Enter the telephone dialer. These were very common items, many of them plastic advertising give-aways, but some made like fine jewelry. I thought more people would remember the scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, in which Audrey Hepburn and her boyfriend are shopping at Tiffany’s, but cannot afford anything there except a sterling telephone dialer.


Note the small lip at the bottom, which would engage the thin plate of the dial, to aid in dialing and to prevent slipping on long numbers like “9” or “0”.

 

 

#5  Nutmeg Grater
 
This item was completely and correctly identified by Mariette, The Vintage Contessa and Pipistrello. I decided to give partial credit to Tundra Bunny and Kirk, who could tell that it was a small grater used for spices and the like. But only the first three specified nutmeg, and nutmeg graters make up such a large class of collectibles that when I checked online, there were over twelve books specifically on collecting nutmeg graters. Some specialized in American examples, while others listed English ones, and some limited themselves to silver specimens.

Many nutmeg graters (especially those silver ones) closed completely with the nutmeg stored inside, so they could be kept in the pocket and carried around. This larger one looks like it was for use in a kitchen.


The working parts and similarity to other types of graters are apparent in this interior photo.

 


#6  Bonus Item: Lamp

Or rather Rube-Goldberg-esque Lamp Sculpture.

This was a bonus item because obviously it is a kind of Frankenstein lamp made of cannibalized parts that originally had other uses. Still, Debra, Tundra Bunny and Pipistrello were able to see through the tricks and correctly identify it.

The Smith and Oby Company in Cleveland, as Tundra Bunny mentioned, is still in business. When I bought this, I called them up and they identified it as potentially the handiwork of their old employee Fred Schmidt, who was also a part-time sculptor.

They led me to his son, Jerry Schmidt, who is currently an artist in Cleveland who works on large-scale metal sculptures. His verdict: “I’ve seen him when I was little work with funky lights, sounds and tinkering with this type of stuff! I would probably say this was dad’s!”
 


Here is proof that the lamp still works. Don’t worry, I inspected the wiring and electrical connections before trying it!

Here are the side and back of the lamp, illustrating how it is put together. 





Usually, I add some tiny print at the bottom stating that all objects and photos are “property of the author.” My sister is also an enthusiastic collector, and we now collect these mystery items together—in fact, it is hard to say where one collection stops and the other begins. So the phrase “author” definitely includes both of us.

I want to thank everyone who participated in this quiz. As before, the tabulation was complex, so if I made any errors, just point them out and I will fix them. If you have any observations or additional questions, please let me know in the comments.


All original objects and photos are property of the author.



13 comments:

  1. Dearest Jim,
    Wow, that #1 does bring us all back in time.
    Do remember quite well those basement coal bins for offloading a new load.
    It all makes perfectly sense!
    #4 I would never have guessed... hindsight that too makes perfect sense.
    #6 was very intricate and as you write, a kind of a Frankenstein lamp made with cannibalized parts. NEVER would have guessed that. From the side view — Yes!
    It was most thought provoking and fun to participate and thanks for all your work.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mariette, This is why I love doing research. Each wrong avenue still leads you closer to the correct answer, and is often interesting in itself.
      --Jim

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  2. Ha! I only managed to “win” because I made three hundred guesses!! The telephone dialer really had me stumped but could see that the base was fairly worn so knew it had to “do” something mechanical. I read
    Diary of a Provincial Lady a while back and recall mention of door-to-door telephone sanitisers in the 30’s. They must have been believed to be perfectly grubby items!

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    Replies
    1. Hello Pipistrello, That is the whole point of multiple entries--to refine your guesses and thought processes. I recall that some people dialed a phone with a pencil, but the erase end would add friction, and the pointed end would make the inside of the dial dirtier!
      --Jim

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  3. Well done to Pipistrello.
    I would never ever have got #1 - coal tokens are not something that were used here.
    I seriously thought about saying #5 was a nutmeg grater but the grater looked far too thin and flat from the angle shown.
    #6 cannibalised parts to make a lamp - trick question - people make those strange lamps here too!
    Thanks for the fun Jim.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, I had also taken some photos of the grater from the side, but the angle I used I thought had the advantage of showing how the cap hooked on. I wonder what kinds of collectibles the coal trade in Great Britain produced--beyond the phrase "bringing coals to Newcastle."

      I knew that the lamp was kind of a trick--that is why I added it as a bonus. I would like to see some of those strange lamps from England. I think it was Jenny Woolf's blog that introduced me to the work of Tim Hunkin, who cobbled together all sorts of contraptions.
      --Jim

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  4. If the #6 artist had only signed his work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If only!
      Hi Kirk, In an earlier post people not labeling photos was discussed, and I guess an artist not signing his work is somewhat similar. My next trip home, I can double-check the bottom, but that would be an odd place to sign such a heavy creation.
      --Jim

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  5. I don't know how I missed the notification for this post in my blog reader, but I did. Sorry for my late response to it!
    #1 -- I would never have got this in a million years, even if you HAD left the company name on it!
    #2 -- Thanks for the half point! Why would anyone want to drink flat champagne? Barbarians.
    #3 -- You know, the awful thing about the correct answer is that it occurred to me that this saw might be for cutting hay bales in half, and then I thought "No, this looks so old it must have been from a time before mechanized farm equipment produced hay bales."
    #4 -- Oh. My. Gawd. Shoot me now. This was an actual thing?
    #5 -- It seems so obvious, once you know the answer. D'oh!
    #6 -- Did I guess this was lamp? If so, I don't remember doing so, among my plethora of increasingly wild guesses.
    Thanks for such a fun post, Jim! I hope it won't be a full year again before you do another one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Debra, Something is off with these blogs administration-wise. Comments have been delayed coming to me, also. I'm glad you like the contest. You must remember dial telephones. Aside from the sanitary aspect, imagine secretaries or others who had to dial the phone all day. All that circular motion must have hurt their fingers as well have been a pain in the neck. Yes, you did guess the lamp, so obviously it wasn;t too wild of a guess!
      --Jim

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  6. Your Mystery Object Post are always such fun and I learn something every time too! I would never have guessed coal scatter tags in a million years. And it's cool that you were able to track down additional provenance from The Smith & Oby Company for your lamp.

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  7. Hello Tundra Bunny, Thank you for your kind words. I guess the scatter tags were more forgotten than some other common items because covered with coal dust as they were, they weren't the kind of thing that ended up in the back of a drawer. Before, I found a web site with some of the son's metal sculptures, but I couldn't get it to work when preparing this post, but my sister said that she and a friend had come across his sculpture studio by accident, and seen some of his work.
    --Jim

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I would love to know what you think. Please feel free to comment--no tricky security words required! Any difficulties or questions, email at: clavicytherium@yahoo.com