Friday, January 8, 2021

Mystery Objects -- Western Edition

In the past all of my Mystery posts have been of Chinese items, which has made many of them difficult to guess. Other cultures might use the same items, but they can be hard to recognize when buried in carvings of dragons and the like.

Since turnabout is fair play, I have decided to do a mystery post of Western objects, but this time the rules will be a little different. I am afraid that some of these will prove too easy, so I am including five mystery objects in this post. Each correct guess will count, and the grand winner will be the one with the most points.

#1
#1  This is the epitome of antique or bygone objects, once found in literally every Western home. While the handles could be made of any material, the business end was usually steel, and the entire object ranges from about three to six inches long. This diminutive example, made from bone and steel, is less than three inches long, but it works fine.


#2 

#2  These items for a long time were nearly as ubiquitous as the above object. They could be made of many materials, especially china, but this example is made from celluloid. They seem to average about five inches across.


#3 top

#3 bottom
#3  This article is perhaps more of an American specialty. Many designs and varieties exist. This one is made from steel and leather, and is almost five inches long.


#4
#4  These crocheted pieces bordered with glass beads seem so handy that I am surprised they are not in more general use, although possibly in some places they still are. They are typically six to eight inches across.


#5 
#5  These frankly are still available, although their greatest popularity was a while ago. Often about one to three inches in diameter, this small-sized example is made of nickel-plated brass.

If you can identify any or all of these objects, please do so in the comments. The usual mystery object rules will apply. Comment moderation will be turned on. Incorrect answers will be printed immediately, so people can guess again with more clues. Correct answers will be withheld until the Reveal post in about a week.

Good Luck!
 

133 comments:

  1. Dearest Jim,
    Will try them one by one, as far as I might know...
    The #1 looks like a shoe button hook tool.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mariette, You are correct, this is a button hook, although this particular small one is more likely for buttoning gloves. --Jim

      Delete
  2. Dearest Jim,
    Well, I'm not going to make it into any more...
    The #4 puzzles me as it is a kind of a net darning and then crocheted edging with the beads around. Have no inkling as to what purpose this would serve...
    Anxious to learn who reveals all these!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mariette, I knew I could count on your for a correct description of this needlework item. Perhaps they never used these in the Netherlands, but I wonder if they might come in handy in Georgia? --Jim

      Delete
  3. Holy moly, I thought you said these were easy? Here's my guesses for each item --
    1. a buttonhook
    2. no idea!
    3. for digging out something?
    4. a doily. It's too small to be an antimacassar, I think.
    5. a collapsible drinking cup

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Jim - there are too many objects here for me to answer immediately, but I shall be giving them each due consideration over the next few days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, I am sure that since you live in England, practically the home of tradition, you will get most of these. --Jim

      Delete
  5. Since #4 looks Australian, I am going to guess it is a jug cover.

    Happy and healthy 2021.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Hels, I had a feeling that you would guess this since it has a picture of a kookaburra, and my whole lot of these came from Australia! --Jim

      Delete
  6. I can guess only on two #1 looks like a button hook for shoes and # is a crochet glass cover for a water glass or if big enough for food, the glass beads weighs it down.
    Michelle from So Cal

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Michelle, Both of your identifications are correct. Thanks for responding. --Jim

      Delete
  7. @Debra Here are two of your guesses:
    3. for digging out something?
    4. a doily. It's too small to be an antimacassar, I think.
    ----------
    #3 is not for digging (but I think you have a better chance at getting this than some other readers).
    #4 is neither a doily nor an antimacassar. For either of those uses, the glass beads would get in the way!
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dearest Jim,
    Another guess at #4 as I think it is a cover for a pitcher for keeping flies out of drinks...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mariette, Exactly correct. I thought you would get this one since it involves needlework. --Jim

      Delete
    2. Jim, I remembered a picture from a Dutch crocheting magazine with a tray and a pitcher on it in summer so I KNEW!

      Delete
  9. The first item is a button hook, either used to button shoes or clothing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Jack, A button hook is correct. Thanks, Jim

      Delete
  10. OMG, now your responses make me even more mystified. I have a better chance of getting #3 than some other readers? Sheesh, I have absolutely no idea what that might be. Maybe a prison shank? That doesn't say anything good about me, though, does it.

    And okay, #4 -- if the beads are functional, not purely decorative, then my guess is -- it's meant to be draped over some food dish, like maybe the butter or something, to keep flies off it. The beads would weight it down.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Debra, A dish or jug cover is correct for #4. --Jim

      Delete
  11. Debra sent in:
    OMG, now your responses make me even more mystified. I have a better chance of getting #3 than some other readers? Sheesh, I have absolutely no idea what that might be. Maybe a prison shank? That doesn't say anything good about me, though, does it.
    ---------------
    Hey Debra, I run a G-rated blog here! You must have spent too much time with those night-prowling friends of Her Royal Highness even to think of such an answer.

    A free tip: You will be amazed when you realize the answer to #3, but please don't think it is Canadian-specific.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Canadian-specific. Isn't that a railway network?

      Delete
    2. Ha, ha! If I ever get the chance to visit Debra, I'll be sure to take that railroad! --Jim

      Delete
  12. Dearest Jim,
    For the #2 Pieter said it was a pudding mold of sorts.
    So let's try and see if he remembered this one right...
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mariette and Pieter, Definitely not a pudding mold, or any type of mold for that matter. --Jim

      Delete
  13. here's a go
    1: button hook (though not a refined one)
    2 and 3 to follow
    4: cover for a pitcher of beer or similar (used mostly outside)
    5: folding water cup to keep in purse when traveling

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello NYChatham, Thanks for responding. #1, #4 and #5 are all correct. --Jim

      Delete
  14. Hello Jim
    Here's my rather pathetic attempt:-
    #1 is a shoe button hook which often hung on a chatelaine in this country if they were made of silver.
    #2 ?
    #3 A tool for getting stones out of horses hooves.
    #4 A milk jug cover to protect the milk from flies etc
    #5 ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, Not bad at all, #1 and #4 are correct. --Jim

      Delete
  15. Rosemary wrote:
    #3 A tool for getting stones out of horses hooves.
    ------------------
    Sorry, Rosemary, that's not what this is for, although it looks like it might be used for that purpose in an emergency. Real hoof picks (I just looked it up) tend to be sharper and pointier, and sometimes hooked at the end.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  16. I might as well move to China, because this American don't know what any of those things are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw Kirk, Better try again--one of these objects was selected specifically in your honor! --Jim

      Delete
    2. Well, number five looks like a lightbulb socket, like you would find on a lamp...but the halogen lightbulbs they have nowadays work just fine in the older sockets, at least it does in the 20-year-old lamp in my living room, so I'm not sure why it would be bygone.

      Delete
    3. Now that you mention it, #5 does look like some light bulb sockets (or one of those old car cigarette lighters), but this is not one, nor is it electrified in any way. --Jim

      Delete
  17. Let me go to number three then. Looks like it could be a potato peeler, though I've never known one to come in a leather pouch.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Let me try number one. A shoehorn, a tool to make your foot slide into a shoe more easily.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kirk, #1 is not a shoehorn. Although these are usually more substantial, remember that at only 2.75 inches long including the handle, this is a perfectly working example. --Jim

      Delete
  19. I'm going to guess number two is a globe for indoor gas lighting, common in the 19th century before electrification.

    In fact, I think ALL of these items has something to do with the gas light era.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kirk, Interesting point. All of these items existed in the 19th century, but were still common much later, and some are still in use.

      I mentioned that #2 was made of celluloid, an extremely flammable substance, so it had nothing to do with gas lights. While celluloid ones are common, they also are frequently found in ceramic, glass, and even silver. --Jim

      Delete
  20. Hello Jim - I thought #3 must be wrong when you mentioned that it was not used for digging, but could it be used for making a channel in something e.g. a seed drill in the soil for example.
    I have also only just noticed that #5 has several layers to it. Do they all pull up to form a drinking vessel as used by travellers, campers, or by soldiers on campaigns?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, A collapsible drinking cup is correct for #5. --Jim

      Delete
  21. From Rosemary:
    Hello Jim - I thought #3 must be wrong when you mentioned that it was not used for digging, but could it be used for making a channel in something e.g. a seed drill in the soil for example.
    ------------------
    Hi Rosemary, Your score is rising, but #3 is not a dibble, nor is it used for any sort of gouging or planting. Look at my clues to Debra, and you will probably get it! --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I think of Debra my first thought turns to bees, and then her paintings. Is it for scrapping honey off the honeycomb?

      Delete
    2. If you used it for honey, they leather part would get all sticky! #3 is not used for bees or for painting. Speaking of which, I wonder if Debra is going to show us more of her work soon? --Jim

      Delete
    3. Well, I'm glad that I inspire you to think of bees, Rosemary -- in a good way, I hope, LOL! As for art, I'm posting some on Thursday for another one of Rain's Art Dates.

      Delete
  22. "Please don't think it's Canada-specific" you tell Debra. A gold rush is not Canada-specific, but one did occur there, as one did in the United States. What's one way of getting gold out of the ground? I never thought I would do this, but I went to the dictionary to look up the word "dig", which you say doesn't apply to item #3. So be it. Then I looked up the word "pick". "Dig" and "pick" are NOT synonyms! It's a pick.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Kirk, I don't want you to get off on a technical tangent that will lead you away from the very familiar use of this common item. While you can see its physical form from the photo, it is not used like a miner's pick, a laborer's pick, a tooth pick, etc. --Jim

      Delete
    2. Sculptor. If you want to sculpt something. A statue. A sculptor's pick.

      Delete
    3. See what I mean? You are getting wider of the mark! --Jim

      Delete
  23. I'm going back to number 5. A lens mount, that goes on a camera.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry, Kirk, you're not being very lucky so far. The back does not come off, so it is opaque. It is not a lens cover either! --Jim

      Delete
  24. Number 2 is a hair receiver, used in Victorian times to collect hair on brushes.

    Number 5 is a face powder holder, in wide use before the invention of the compact.

    I'm probably wrong again, but I should at least get an A for effort.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kirk, You got #2 correct. I was also counting on you to get #3, the corn husker! --Jim

      Delete
  25. Last attempt Jim - I have abandoned #3, but still haven't tried to answer #2. At first I thought that it was one piece which was confusing, but now I can see that it is a bowl and lid. I am guessing that it is a powder bowl, probably part of a dressing-table set or a trinket bowl.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, Good for noticing that the top part is a lid. You still have to account for the hole in the center! --Jim

      Delete
  26. So here's my 2cents

    1: think button hook
    2: ?
    3: potential oyster knife (perhaps...guessing here)
    4: cover for beer pitcher or similar (popular in Victorian/Edwardian period)
    5: folding water cup for the traveler

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello NYChatham, #'s 1, 4, and 5 all correct! --Jim

      Delete
  27. I stop by regularly hoping to see you post. Alas I am at the end of the line. so can not guess.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Too bad your comments have been hidden by Blogger. Next time I will know where to look for them! --Jim

      Delete
  28. Replies
    1. This was hidden the same as your other comments. It is mysterious how some comments are hidden, while others simply disappear into the ether. It seems to be a user-by-user affair. --Jim

      Delete
  29. NYCHATHAM wrote:
    3: potential oyster knife (perhaps...guessing here)
    ------------
    Not an oyster knife. As I understand them, oyster knives are flatter and with more of an edge for getting between the shells. --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  30. Kirk Wrote:
    Number 5 is a face powder holder, in wide use before the invention of the compact.
    --------------
    Hi Kirk, While cosmetic powder jars are a huge area of collecting, this is not one of them. --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  31. Jim, I’m impressed! I had fun doing something similar with my literacy students a few years ago, and the object in that case was a chamber pot! The kids had fun guessing and even more fun when they found out what it was. However, I have no idea what any of these are. I suppose #1 is nothing as simple as a crochet hook? A button hook?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Sue, Thanks for writing in. You have guessed #1 correctly as a button hook. --Jim

      Delete
  32. Replies
    1. Hi again, Thanks for clarifying your answer and ensuring it is the accurate one. Jim

      Delete
  33. #1 I just hope that it isn’t connected to dentistry.
    #2 Early, failed attempt at a golf tee?
    #3 Looks like a dibbler.
    #4 You’ve already shown that it isn’t an antimacassar or doily – my first thoughts.
    As it is beaded you wouldn’t hang it vertically so flat, on a table or covering a dish but ventilated. Food? Nuts?
    #5 Tea-light holder?
    CLICK HERE for Bazza’s abnormally antic Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Bazza, You got the right idea that #4 is meant to protect food. --Jim

      Delete
  34. Thanks for that extra help Jim - that picture is extremely deceptive - the hole at the top actually looks like an egg-shaped knob!!! Now I think that it might be a very odd thing called a hair receiver which was also kept on a dressing table, and was a place for storing hair which was removed from brushes and combs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, A hair receiver it is. Perhaps odd in use, but not so rare as I see at least one at every antique store or flea market! --Jim

      Delete
  35. #4 I am guessing to used to put over a glass (lemonade?) to prevent bugs from getting in your drink. The beads help to weigh down the edges and drape over the side of the glass. This acts like a mini-bug netting.

    slf

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello slf, Thanks for responding. You are correct that is is a glass or jug cover. --Jim

      Delete
  36. NUMBER ONE A GLOVE BUTTON HELPER?
    NUMBER TWO A HAIR HOLDER
    NUMBER THREE I HAVE NO IDEA!
    NUMBER FOUR A DOLLIE SPELLING?
    NUMBER FIVE is a traveling cup!
    TRA LA!FEEL GOOD ABOUT MY GUESSES!!!!
    XX

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Contessa, Pretty good--you got #1, #2, and #5 all correct! --Jim

      Delete
  37. after some careful reviewing of the image...
    #2 is a hair receiver from a vanity set

    sill stumping on three...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello NYChatham, A hair receiver is exactly what it is. --Jim

      Delete
  38. Without having read any of the comments so far, the only one I recognise is one of those crochet things for putting on top of jugs and dishes to keep flies off in hot weather! a very nice idea IMO

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Jenny, Yes, #4 is a jug and dish protector. --Jim

      Delete
  39. #3 is driving me mental. The leather is looped back, like it's designed to hang on a belt or something so as to be portable. The steel appears to be shaped somewhat like a spoon. Is it some kind of tasting implement? For tasting something as it cooks or ages? Oh wait -- is it for maple syrup?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Debra, It is not for maple syrup, and it is not for tasting things. --Jim

      Delete
  40. Button Hook
    Inkwell
    burnishing tool
    fly netting
    collapsible metal cup?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Travel, #1, #4 and #5 are all correct. Thanks for replying. --Jim

      Delete
  41. I did not peek at the previous guesses.
    #1 is a rug hook I reckon.
    #5 looks to be a finger bowl for the dinner table.
    #4 may be used as a cover over bowls to keep off flies
    #3 - I don't know but I want one
    #2 a base to hold something to polish.
    this was fun, Jim !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Ur-spo, I am so sorry your comments were not posted earlier. As usual, we can blame Blogger!

      #4 was correct--good for you to know this one!
      The others were interesting guesses. About #5, at one inch across, you would have to dip one finger at a time!
      --Jim

      Delete
  42. Hello Jim. This is a fun mystery. My guesses are: 1. a turn of the century boot/button lacing tool, 2. a cafeteria small one serving bowl that fits into a celluloid cafeteria tray--like something I remember from my days at grade school. 3. a shoe horn 4. a doily stretcher (your example reminds me of a doily stretcher board that belonged to my great grandma Edna. I use it like a corkboard for thumbnail sketches in my sewing studio). 5. a pop-up drain--looks something like the pop up drain in my 1903 Kohler clawfoot tub.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Linda, #1 is for buttons, not laces, but I think you know what this is, and your answer is close enough! --Jim

      Delete
  43. Travel guessed:
    #2 Inkwell
    #3 burnishing tool
    ---------------
    #2 is much too large for an inkwell. It is about 5 inches across, and the hole in the center of the lid is one-and-a-quarter inches.

    #3 is not a burnisher, although it does resemble some that I have seen. In general, the metal doesn't have the polish that would indicate a burnishing career.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  44. Mrs. D. Wrote in:
    2. a cafeteria small one serving bowl that fits into a celluloid cafeteria tray--like something I remember from my days at grade school.
    3. a shoe horn (Mrs. D. later guessed some kind of ear or grooming tool.)
    4. a doily stretcher (your example reminds me of a doily stretcher board that belonged to my great grandma Edna. I use it like a corkboard for thumbnail sketches in my sewing studio).
    5. a pop-up drain--looks something like the pop up drain in my 1903 Kohler clawfoot tub.
    ===============
    #2 is made of thin celluloid, and not sturdy enough for cafeteria use. Although these were often made of china, that is not what this item is. Also, remember there is a hole in the center of the lid.
    #3 is neither a shoe horn nor a personal grooming tool.
    #4 Although the photo shoes the item stretched out, it has no kind of frame or stiffening in it, if that is what you mean.
    #5 It really does look like some drain plugs I have seen, but that is not the correct identification.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have more guesses. #2 I now believe is a hair-keeper. When a gal brushes her hair, the hair in the brush is removed and stored in the container. Later on, the stored hair is used to make her hair-do poofy. Like Gibson Girls. My new guess for #5 is: a tool for sniffing tobacco or cocaine up the nose.

      Delete
  45. Hi Jim. May I make a couple more guesses? 3. might be a tool used by a person who smokes a pipe, and the tool is used to dig out burnt remnants of packed tobacco, in order to prepare the pipe for another packing of fresh tobacco. 4. is a crocheted "tidy", a doily pinned to the headrest of a chair to protect the chair from hair oil used by men. The reference to a tidy I found written in Grandma Edna's personal diaries--who was a new bride in 1893. Great grandma Edna passed away in 1957 when I was 6 years old. I remember her well, and have lots of photos of her. She looked just like Eleanor Roosevelt. Thank you Jim for posting this fun mystery guessing game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Linda, What charming reminiscences of your great-grandmother! I bet she could have rattles off all of these objects without a pause!
      However,
      #3 is not a pipe reamer.
      #4 is not a tidy, doily, or antimacassar--as has been noted, the beads would not be necessary and in fact would get in the way and be uncomfortable.

      Delete
  46. I have a new guess for #5. Is it a marine telescope?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, it is not, but that was an interesting guess. --Jim

      Delete
  47. Mrs. D. Wrote in:
    #5 is: a tool for sniffing tobacco or cocaine up the nose.
    =======
    Mrs. D! I always thought that rural Wisconsin was such a sedate and wholesome place. Apparently I was wrong! But your other answer in your comment was correct. --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  48. Yes Jim. Your answer is correct. Wisconsin is a sedate and wholesome place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel better now, Linda. Wisconsin is the Dairy State, and I love studying the history of the dairy industry! --Jim

      Delete
  49. Hi Jim,

    I think #3 and 5 are complete mysteries but perhaps:
    #1 may be a button-hook
    #2 a dressing table hair receiver
    #4 is a jug cover - I have one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Pipistrello, Your positive identifications for #1, #2 and #4 are all correct. What pattern is your jug cover? --Jim

      Delete
  50. I thought I was the first to make a guess.. But the guess must have been wrong. Middle age is a shocker 😀
    Hels

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Hels, You were the first to make a guess, and it was correct! That is why your comment did not appear, so others could guess without being primed by correct identifications.

      The Reveal Post will be published in a couple of days.
      --Jim
      p.s. I am sure that you really know some of the others as well.

      Delete
  51. A response from Bazza:

    First of all, I'm sorry that I missed your comment earlier. For some reason it was sent to the Spam folder.

    Bazza wrote:
    #1 I just hope that it isn’t connected to dentistry.
    #2 Early, failed attempt at a golf tee?
    #3 Looks like a dibbler.
    #5 Tea-light holder?
    =============
    #1 Perhaps in England--you had better check your dental plan. I hope that no dentists are reading this, and that it doesn't give them any ideas!
    #2 Most of these would be smashed to bits if hit by a gold club!
    #3 Not used for planting in any way.
    #5 Nothing to do with candles or lamps.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  52. I'm late to this party, but my guesses are:
    #1. Button Hook;
    #2. Celluloid Hair Receiver;
    #3. Dibber/gardening tool;
    #4. Weighted crochet cover for a milk jug or water pitcher; and
    #5. Collapsible drinking cup.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Tundra Bunny, You're good--you got everything except #3, the corn husker. --Jim

      Delete
  53. Tundra Bunny sent in:
    #3. Dibber/gardening tool;
    ==============
    Hello Tundra Bunny, Thanks for responding. Your other answers were spot-on, but as mentioned above, this is not a dibber, or dibbler, or dibble, or whatever you prefer to call them. Those are usually circular in cross section, and this is U or V shaped. --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  54. Tundra Bunny entered another guess:
    #3 Some sort of finger splint or medical device.
    ==========
    Sorry, this is not used in the medical field, although it does find its uses in some other, non-related fields.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
  55. Okay, I'm taking ONE LAST SHOT at #3. In response to a previous wrong answer, you wrote: "I think you have a better chance at getting this than some other readers." I've been pondering this clue. At first I thought it referred to my being Canadian -- that's why I guessed a maple syrup implement. But, given that was wrong, now I wonder if it is because of my affinity for BEES. So is it some kind of implement used in BEEKEEPING? Like for sampling honey from the hive, or cutting out pieces of honeycomb/beeswax?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Debra, Rosemary guessed something similar about honey, and I pointed out that honey would make the leather all sticky, and was not the right answer, anyway. I am preparing the reveal post soon, and #3 is still the only one that no one has gotten right! --Jim

      Delete
    2. Oh, of course, Rosemary already tried and struck out with bees! I had forgotten. I'm glad no one else has yet gotten #3 though, it makes me feel better in my FRUSTRATION.

      Delete
  56. I'd also like to make one last guess -- is #3 a toll used by bookbinders to tighten stitches or to hold paper sections compressed for stitching?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Tundra Bunny, #3 is not a bookbinding tool. There used to be a reader named Erika who was a bookbinder and could have told us whether this resembled any of her tools, but at any rate this common tool has an entirely different use. --Jim

      Delete
  57. One more guess on #3. Could it be a tool for opening cans, such as opening paint or paste wax?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Linda, I suppose it could be used on some larger cans, in the same sense that a screwdriver could, but that is not its proper use!
      --Jim

      Delete
  58. Could #3 be a gouge tool used in woodworking, or spoon carving?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. #3 is not sharp enough to be a carving tool. It's not for clay or any other kind of sculpting, either. --Jim

      Delete
  59. #3 - a vintage tool for tooling leather.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Rosemary, Not for tooling leather. I think it would have to be sharper to do that. --Jim

      Delete
  60. 新年好!
    Is #3 a tool to take corn grains out?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello rtc, What do you mean by take corn grains out?
      --Jim

      Delete
    2. Oh sorry. I mean a tool to remove a line of corn grains from the corncob.

      Delete
    3. No, it's not that either, but today I was in a housewares shop and I saw a kitchen tool designed to remove corn kernels from the cob. --Jim

      Delete
  61. Dearest Jim,
    Guess the #3 is a vintage corn husker!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mariette, Congratulations! You were the one who finally got #3 right! People need to get back to their agricultural roots. --Jim

      Delete
    2. Yes Jim, one can suddenly see it so clearly! Thank you.

      Delete
  62. #4 looks like something my grandma used. They would put them on jugs to keep flies and mosquitos out. I still have a couple she used to use.
    I have no idea what the others are but the first one looks familiar. I just can't place it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Loree, Your description of #4 is correct. Did your grandmother make her own, or get them ready-made? --Jim

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  63. Hello Jim - I now realise that it would have been impossible for me to give the correct answer to #3.
    It is a tool that we do not have or use here.

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    1. Hi Rosemary, You did pretty well anyway. What surprised me about the corn husker was that no one seemed to realize that the leather was a handle, i.e. to strap the blade to the hand, so the blade portion would have had to go through something pretty tough and meet some resistance. That would have led in the right direction, or at least resulted in partial credit!
      --Jim
      p.s. We have another mystery object, silver with English hallmarks, that has defied all research, so I guess all nations have their secrets.

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