“I got a bag containing 6 of these from China. I have no idea why! What are they?”
Answer: "Rose of Jericho (Resurrection Plant, Dinosaur Plant, Jericho Rose)"
“Husband’s truck exploded, this came out.”
Answer: “It’s the inside bits, the catalyst, of a catalytic converter.”
“What is this big hole that is usually found on milk cartons?”
Answer: “This is actually a measure to keep the milk contained if it’s suddenly dropped or frozen. Makes the cap pop out if so.”
“It was described as a plushie, but I don’t understand why it has the sleeve on the bottom.”
Answer: “Golf club cover.”
“The hole gets smaller when I squeeze it. Found in the kitchen at my parents’ house. What do I use it for?”
Answer: “It’s to strip corn on the cob.”
“What is this bubbling out of the ground in my yard? Purplish metallic gooey inside.”
Answer: “Carpenter here, that looks all the world to me like expanding foam. The manufacturers like to color them for brand recognition or purpose identification. All the signs are there. The even coloration, the outer skin that formed, and the familiar random expansion pattern.”
“Moved into home recently, and sellers left this behind. Maybe it’s just ornamental?”
Answer: “When our friends were having an extension done, they had maxed their spending out for Christmas. My GF and I got a similar brick done (except with a decorative tag saying they had no money that year) as our gift. We use it as a doorstop in the downstairs loo.”
“My husband found this in our new house’s ice maker. What is this?”
Answer: "It’s jade, an eye massage tool. Here is a similar one."
“A green glass faceted item — not an ashtray. It is also hollow, which makes it much different.”
Answer: "Looks like a geode bowl, usually used for change and keys."
“Little razors attached to some handle, found on top of the fridge. My husband has no idea either.”
Answer: "It’s an attachment for a mandolin slicer to make julienne-cut veggies. It looks like one of the sides broke off where it clips on."
“Found this at a Philips shop. What is this thing?”
Answer: "It’s a key fob for a programmable RFID entry system."
“Found this object in the kitchen of a deceased relative. About 18 inches long, the puck-shaped end is heavy solid metal.”
Answer: "It’s a handheld salamander. You heat the “puck” and hold it over the food to brown or melt the surface cheese, like a French onion soup."
“What is this curved wicker object?”
Answer: "Looks like a cheap Jai Alai paddle. A hand goes in the loop, and then the inside of the curve is for catching and throwing the ball."
“What is this leather thing that was in a subscription box? We can’t figure it out!”
Answer: "It’s a Kiko brand leather bookmark. Here is a similar one."
“These are squishy rubber balls a little less than 1/2 inch in diameter with divots. Found about a dozen in the street outside my house.”
Answer: "They’re NERF-type ammo for kids’ play guns."
“My fiancée has this mug, and we can’t figure out what Santa is supposed to be holding. It just says holly-jolly holidays.”
Answer: "It’s a list like a scroll, a naughty and nice list, I’d imagine."
“An aluminum puck scraped by the road, the top part looks like 2 machined pieces separated by a rubber O-ring. A heavy thing shakes within.”
Answer: "It’s a car fragrance diffuser. Here is a similar one."
“Flying over an area outside of Tucson, and we saw this hole, and it looks like it has water in it.”
Answer: "It’s a pit mine, the spiral you see is the actual road trucks drive on to transport the materials mined from the bottom to the top."
“It’s upside down but appears to be a feeder or nester of some sort attached to the top of the fence by the previous owner. What is it?”
Answer: "It’s for bees, particularly Mason bees."
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It's a bread bow
Flash CUBES, not bulbs - for Instamatic cameras. We used to make a gadget out of a paper clip to set 'em off in your hand.
Useful for magic acts.