Barnorama All Fun In The Barn
When the strange and unusual leaves us scratching our heads, the internet’s sharpest minds step in to solve the mystery.
This large, old-looking wooden item:
“It’s a casting positive. They would use it to create a negative mold in sand, which metal would then be poured into.”
This unusual sewing needle:
“It’s a Jute or Twine sewing needle.”
“The bend makes it so much easier. The wide point gives more space for the thread to pass through the hole made by the needle.”
This glass dome with small spikes on one side:
“An antique bike reflector. This has a faceted face, but you can find smooth versions that match yours by searching for antique glass bike reflectors.”
This porous cube found in the deep sea:
“Looks like one of these. In Dutch, it’s called kroonsteentje, but I don’t know what it’s called in English. It has something to do with electrical wiring.”
“Terminal block’ in English.”
“Fun fact: ceramic terminals are designed to withstand fire and other high heat sources. Imagine a boat being on fire but just continuing to its location. That’s what they’re supposed to do!”
This big hunk of stone that was found in the bottom of a lake in Northern Maine:
“That is a stone axe head. A forked wooden handle would have slotted into the groove and then been lashed into place.”
“It would be “lashed with wet hide — it shrinks and turns into a semi-rigid mass with enormous tensile strength.”
These glass figurines in a carrying case:
“Since the long glass stick looks like it could be used as a drink stirrer and the figures look like penguins, I would guess they are very fancy permanent ice cubes.”
This round disc found at the bottom of the sea:
“FB Minden might stand for “Feuerbestattung” Minden – Minden crematory. I think you stumbled over a chamotte marker from a crematory that was used to track the identity of a body as it turned to ashes and was buried at sea.”
This long piece of metal with a decorative hook:
“It looks like a swing arm for holding pots over a fire. Sometimes called a fireplace crane.
It would be held by two loops built into the side of the fireplace and can swivel over and away.”
This tiny mirror with a clip:
“It originally clipped onto a lipstick tube.”
A few small cylinders with metal cores and paper wrapping, found in a backyard:
“Old batteries.”
This ornate piece of stamped metal:
“Those are tongs that have just been straightened. It may be used for sugar cubes or bread rolls. The ends look like they could follow a silver tableware set motif.”
“Yup. Someone flattened them out. We had a similar pair that had gone through a disposal and were curled up like a wood shaving. Sugar cube tongs, to be specific. Google vintage silver sugar tongs.”
This round object someone unearthed in their yard:
“That’s an “aerator blade for renovating pastures. Source: I used a tool with two rows of these for a few seasons.””
Small metal boxes containing a brush located on gravestones in a cemetery in Andermatt, Switzerland:
“The metal box is called ‘Weihwasserkessel’ in German, roughly translated as ‘holy water kettle’ in English. It is for storing holy water, and the brush is for dispensing it on the grave. It is very common in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Maybe other places, too, but I haven’t been to graveyards in other countries.”
This one-off tiny pocket inside a St. John’s Bay shirt:
“It’s a ‘nurse’s’ pocket…Essentially, it’s a loophole for manufacturers to bring costs down.
If garments have ‘pockets below the waist, a ribbed waistband or other means of tightening at the bottom of the garment,’ they get excluded from specific categories. So if you took that same type of blouse with a 26.9% duty rate and added a pocket or two below the waist, it would instead get tariffed at a rate of 16%.”
This vintage-looking plastic contraption:
“It’s a vintage 1978 Power Scrubber, as seen in Ghostbusters.”
And lastly, this bullet-shaped container with a tiny telescope inside:
“That’s a telescopic cigarette holder.”
Source: www.buzzfeed.com