Found shoved in the dirt between two concrete sidewalk sections. Some sort of bevel drive gear and cutting bit?
Answer: It’s a cotton picker spindle. When they are worn out they get repurposed as surveying stakes.
Found at the bottom of a small pond that was drained. About 2 feet in diameter.
Answer: It’s a fish habitat, sometimes placed at the bottom of lakes/ponds to give fish a place to hang out.
Can anyone tell me what this is It’s stamped K.T CO and made in Japan on the handle.
Answer: It’s a ginger/wasabi/salt grating tool.
This is growing in my backyard. Pretty sure it grew overnight (it rained for the first time in several months). I live in the central valley of California. What is this?
Answer: Stinkhorns, or a type of fungus.
Found on the ground in a parking lot
Answer: This is the inside of a vape.
Found hanging in custodian closet at my church. Quarter for scale.
Answer: They are gauges to verify what size aerator you need to replace.
Found this outside on the side of my building.
Answer: This is a cycad cone.
This was in my grandfathers old tool box. There is no manufacturer markings and the wheel and needle both spin.
Answer: That is a wheelwright’s traveler for measuring the circumstance of a wagon wheel.
In the woods near where I live. I do live on an old WW2 Air Field so there are many odd building and’bits’ just around, but just wonder if anyone knows any more about it?
Answer: It’s a Rotary International marker.
Found this strange box in my house from an ex tenant
Answer: A Rube Goldberg machine
I metal detect and found these a few weeks apart and no where near each other, found in an old orchard that is ridge and furrow in the UK, they are oval in shape, 5inches wide, anyone have any idea what they are?
Answer: They’re pattens.
Dragon-looking 6” metal object with disc on one end
Answer: It’s a chopstick and spoon rest mechanism.
A trap of some sort?
Answer: It’s an illegal raccoon trap.
Found these material flags at my grandmothers house. 5″ x 7″
Answer: These are cigar box flannels – made of cotton and a bit later than the old tobacco silks, which were made of, well, silk.
Found this at a thrift shop. Handle crank turns the paddle inside- the funnel on top has a tube that runs into the jar.
Answer: It’s a mayonnaise churner.
Household manager here: what the heck is this little guy and why does this family have five of them?
Answer: A caulk/silicone gun. You wind back the drew/bolt part and clip the pushable end into it at its open base, then squeeze the trigger to push the bolt up and your tube’s contents get pushed out the nozzle.
Screw driver handle with a long probe and a standard looking cord and plug. The “probe” is not hollow.
Answer: A heated dipstick for warming an engine on cold nights.
This is on the wall of a house built in 1897; believed to be made of metal.
Answer: It is the valve from an old gas wall sconce.
What is this thing screwed into my local road with a blinking red light? Just showed up today.
Answer: It’s a solar powered indicator light. Sometimes they’re put next to fire hydrants to help firefighters locate them, or to denote a crosswalk, etc. Exact use depends on the municipality or whoever maintains the road.
Found in an AirBnB we’re staying at. The top opens up and has a rolled up scroll inside. I can’t take the scroll out without ripping it, it seems very old. The top is made of metal and the “handle” is wooden.
Answer: It’s a Tibetan prayer wheel.
My dad found this while digging in indiana,it is bigger than a football.
Answer: It’s slag glass
Found on the Appalachian Trail near Watauga dam in Tennessee, not sure if it has anything to do with the dam itself.
Answer: A seismic sensor. That little concrete pad with the metal thing to conduct the waves and make sure it doesn’t shift.
Dug this bottle up on the job site today, everyone was wondering what was originally inside.
Answer: It’s an old bottle of Gilka Kümmel, a type of German herbal liqueur.
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