“Small elephant filled with water left at flat after party. Debating with flatmates over what its purpose could be.”
Answer: "It’s a melted reusable ice cube."
“Thumb protector, possibly, but for what? Found at a yard sale.”
Answer: "Chainmail glove for shucking clams/ oysters."
“A pole with a ring around it and a heavy base.”
Answer: "An umbrella holder."
“MIL left this behind after a move. It was plastic wrapped, never used. It has a mesh cover, small holes, and a plunger that presses into neither of them.”
Answer: "Reusable tea bag strainer."
"A white plastic stick that gets narrower in the middle, with small hands on both ends, given as a wedding favour/gift for guests."
Answer: "Drink muddler stick."
“Found this small kettle years ago. Anybody have an idea why this has this unique shape? Wallet for scale.”
Answer: "A portable men’s urinal for bedbound patients."
“A ziplock bag tacked above a door. Seems to contain water and a few pennies. What could this be for?”
Answer: "Homemade mosquito/fly deterrent. The light reflecting off the water and pennies is supposed to scare off pesky bugs."
“My wife got this as a white elephant.”
Answer: "This is a Himalayan calendar. The largest rung of 12 is the month, the next two are the days of the month (3, then up to 9), and the last four are the year in four digits."
“What are those veins on the egg?”
Answer: "It tends to be because the hen has been sick with bronchitis. These eggs are safe to eat, though."
“Found among Grandma’s things. All snowflakes go into the box, spring clasp on the box.”
Answer: "A box of charms: peace, love, happiness."
“I accidentally broke a toy egg and this green thing was in it?”
Answer: "It is usually used to “trigger” some sound effect when used in combination with a toy pan (like, it begins to “fry” when put into the pan)."
"What is the purpose of the “chip” in the one prong of this fork? It’s on multiple forks in my drawer."
Answer: "They make one tine wider for cutting stuff, but the wider one wouldn’t stab as well as the others, so they gave it a clipped point."
"It’s only on dessert forks because it’s acceptable etiquette to cut a dessert with a fork."
“Compressed paper piece with a hook for hanging. Maybe six inches long and thin.”
Answer: “Closet air freshener.”
“A small metal trinket found buried on a rural Missouri farm”
Answer: “It’s a boy scout neckerchief slide.”
“Found in my math teacher’s room — 100 squares with varying patterns and colors. No patterns seem to be the same.”
Answer: “It’s a prime factorization chart and a demonstration of The Sieve of Eratosthenes. Note that primes are of solid distinct color.”
“2.5 inches long with a ring-sized hole, and gold-colored metal. Is this jewelry?”
Answer: “It’s a ’Sixth Digit’ accessibility device for pressing buttons, etc.”
“Hundreds of stainless steel pipes near a dam”
Answer: “They’re breather pipes for a landfill site. Lets out the gasses from decomposing waste buried there.”
“What is this? Some sort of a combination of tongs and a strainer.”
Answer: “Those might be frying tongs but would be very useful as a teabag squeezer/remover from hot cups of tea.”
“Small metal box and bracket plugged in a 1960s-era house. Has wires coming out the bottom.”
Answer: “This is a power transformer for providing power to older telephones to light up the dials. It was usually wired to the black and yellow wires of the four-wire telephone cord.”
“A red and clear rubber toy-like thing found on a playground”
Answer: “It’s a Lego part. It is a pair of balloons held by a Lego figure.”
“Does anybody know what this might be for? The position of loops is adjustable with graduations in centimeters along the frame.”
Answer: “It’s a guitar finger trainer.”
“One-foot tall copper colored metal stand with five prongs that come together in a little ball at the top, with a wooden circular base.”
Answer: “Metal holder for teen girls’ accessories.”
“2-3 inches long white plastic, with bristle like ends which are pliable. Found in the kitchen drawer.”
Answer: “It is part of a bottle cleaning kit. Used to clean out nipples on bottles or sippy cups.”
“Found in the woods in Germany hanging from a tree/bush.”
Answer: “Is hunting allowed? Could be for scent lure.”
“Weird spike found in my flowerbed by the road. About 10 inches in length.”
Answer: “This is a grounding rod for a machine used to detect buried gas lines or other pipes.”
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Just sayin'...