"Blue nets tied between the trees. Found while hiking in the Cinque Terre National Park in Italy"
A: "Pretty sure these are nets for catching the fruit from the tree – currently rolled up because there is no fruit. They were spread out to cover the area beneath the trees when I was there in late summer. I believe it’s for olives."
"What is this strange glass dish? 2 pieces a lid & base."
A: "Appears to be a Simax chicken roaster with some sort of lid."
"Some kind of medal found at my wife’s great grandparents old house. It says 1858 on one tip, can’t make out any of the other words."
A: "It’s a masonic gem from the Civil War era"
"What is the name and use of this scientific glass item? PYREX USA 4 neck spherical glassware."
A: "This is a glass receiver jar used in old dairy vacuum systems. It allows milk to separate out of the airsteam. Afaik modern systems use stainless steel versions and they are no longer in production."
"6″ Tall, 4″ Wide, Feels Metal-ish, Found in the Colorado foothills."
A: "Looks like an iron nodule. Natural concentration of iron."
"It’s a weird little double helix thing made of a light metal, found on Georgia Tech campus. Makes for a nice necklace ornament, but what is it?"
A: "Spiral hair pin. Used to secure a bun."
"Some type of suitcase with compartments?"
A: "It’s a sample box for some type of sales person"
"My grandpa got it from a friend but they both don’t even know what it is. This might be a part of some bigger welding machine but I’m a total noob. Anyone know what it is?"
A: "Normal small portable welding inverter (electrode welding), no bigger machine needed."
"Green bristles along the side of a weir"
A: "It’s for passage of eel and lamprey…"
"Flexible rubber thing with a garden hose-sized connection on one end."
A: "It’s for clearing clogged drains. It works just like you think it does. Put it in a pipe between 1.5” and 3” and it will first expand and then start spraying water to clear the clog."
"Found abandoned on a railway line in the UK"
A: "It is a boiler. Could be from a train, or a factory. Most likely train, tho."
"What is this metal point found in Devon, UK?"
A: "Hardwire communication port for a firing range – military stuff. You might find more info if you google “Field Telephone”
"Found this buried. It’s flat on one side, concaved on the other and has a hole right through the middle"
A: "This is likely to be a prehistoric or Roman quernstone. This would be the top, a spindle would connect it to a bottom piece and grain would be poured into the ‘funnel’ on top and ground between the two stones to make flour."
"What are these shredded balls on my property?"
A: "Juniper-hawthorne rust: a fungal disease. It starts as a gall then the tentacles appear around spring/rain. It probably won’t kill this tree but it can seriously mess up secondary hosts ie apple trees. Only way to get rid of it is to prune then burn the removed branches.. don’t forget to disinfect your tools after."
"Pretty lost with this. The stick is crumbly like fine charcoal but I have no clue what it’s for. Only one end has been used and there’s a hole through the center."
A: "Its a handwarmer, you light the stick and close the case and it burns like an ember.Last 3 or 4 hrs if i remember right,used to use them regularly."
"Found in a hunters trunk full of supplies, Canada, sometime between 1950-1980, The bottom dimpled part spins, the top blue part feels like wood, it’s very light"
A: "If you tug at the brass section does it come off? I’ve seen vintage sewing kits like this where the top is a thimble (which this could easily be, by appearance) and it holds spare needles, pins and a small amount of thread. For repairs on trips and such."
"My boss went to a Muslim wedding and saw these in the restroom. We have no idea what the purpose is. Anyone able to help?"
A: "Foot washing stations. Muslims wash their feet before prayer."
"Found in bomb shelter. Has a crank and a two prong plug. Connected to a pipe coming from the wall"
A: "I think it’s a manual air filtration system to pump in fresh air, I had seen one many years ago on tv dooms day prep"
"Found these soft metal objects while metal detecting under a pier at low tide."
A: "They’re Hindu offerings. The symbol on the top-left is Om."
"This object is hanging from the ceiling of our waiting room at the hospital. It’s a white smooth dome with no numbers or labels of any kind. Anyone know what this is for? My thought was wifi or a signal booster."
A: "Signal booster"
"Surrounded by a barbed wire fence and made of concrete"
A: "That’s the remains of a water tower that once served the Maryland Mine."
"Part of silverware set. It has a corkscrew tip, but it is not sturdy enough to be used as s corkscrew. Thoughts for its purpose?"
A: "It’s a butter pick."
"Found with assorted items when clearing out my grandads belongings after his death. Metal, a few inches diameter, totally stumped!"
A: "It’s an antique egg topper"
“What are these? I found them in my granny’s sideboard.”
A: "These are micro vases for a suit pocket, for boutonnieres"
“I always thought I knew everything there was to know about the things in our kitchen. Recently, my mom has found this. What is it?”
A: "This is a butter knife. It makes nice-looking spirals in the shape of shells."
“What is this oval metal tool that I found in a box of sewing and craft supplies?”
A: "It may be missing 2 straps, which pass through the holes on each end. That center hole looks about right for a handle."
“A strange clock like thing I found in my house”
A: "It is a galvanometer."
“Please help us figure out what this cutlery is used for.”
A: "It’s a serving fork for sardines and sprat."
“What is the use of this fourth piece of cutlery I’ve seen in a German museum?”
A: "It’s a baby food pusher, quite common in the 1800s and early 1900s"
“Stainless steel, about the size of a tea spoon, no additional markings”
A: "It’s a mint sauce ladle."
“An unusual small silver box with a wing on a chain inside”
A: "It’s a purse hook. You hang it off of the table so your purse doesn’t touch the floor. The company that made this one is called Arbon and it’s from the mid-century. "
“Please help me figure out what this thing is. Found it in the kitchen.”
A: "It’s a kind of a hatchet used for chopping cabbage. My granny had the same thing in her kitchen, but now it’s lost."
“Does anyone know what this hedgehog is used for? I can place an egg there and cover it only if I cut off the top. It’s also too small to be a butter dish.”
A: "It may be a box for needles if you place a piece of foam rubber inside the bottom part"
“Unknown object detected! What is it? My friend is sorting out her granny’s closet and keeps finding weird things.”
A: "It’s used for patching heels on woolen socks."
“I saw this object at an exhibition. I wonder what it’s used for.”
A: "It’s a gadget for sharpening pin drills."
“Please help me find out what this thing is. I found it in my granny’s sewing kit, but I’m not sure if it’s used for crafts.”
A: "It’s a special clamp used for compressing rubber and other elastic pipes in laboratories. Was your granny a lab worker?"
“I found this metal object. No text or numbers on it, and it can retract to be the size of a bracelet.”
A: "It’s the top (closure part) of a purse or small handbag."
“We were sorting out my dad’s garage and found 3 pots with some colorful bars. There is some kind of spring squeezed to a ring inside each of them. They have no smell, don’t burn, but smoke heavily. What can that be?”
A: "It’s so nice to know something other people don’t. The photo shows a refill for a lava lamp. The spring on the bottom heats up from the lamp and paraffin floats in water."
“We found this object in an old sewing machine. It is plastic; when you press the button something like tweezers comes out. What is this, and what is it used for?”
A: "These are tweezers for removing ticks. I don’t know why it’s in the sewing machine. I can only assume that someone was using it for removing unnecessary threads. It grabs threads perfectly, and I also used it for the same purpose. Still, its main function is removing ticks."
“The hole gets smaller when I squeeze it. Found in the kitchen at my parents’ house. What do I use it for?”
A: "It’s used to strip corn off the cob."
“A small scoop with an alligator clip as the handle — found it while cleaning out the kitchen.”
A: "It’s a coffee scoop with a bag clip for a coffee bag..."
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If I remember correctly that's a book holder, two straps are used to hold the books and that's the handle.
Used on a siphon hose to keep air from entering the vine wile not used, thus preventing vineger growth.
My Dad had some, he'd get them out when we went ice fishing!
Don't Google it, Duckle it!