Found This Small Kettle Years Ago. Tried Searching For A Similar One, But Have Always Come Up With Nothing. Anybody Have An Idea Why This Has This Unique Shape?

Isn’t that a portable men’s urinal for bedbound patients?

What Is This? Was Labeled As A Xylophone? Bought For $9 At An Antique Store

Nine dollars for a tongue drum the size of an end table?! I’m an instrument collector, and I’ve gotten some goooood deals… But wow. I’ve never gotten a deal that good.

I Inherited This From My Grandpa. It Probably Belonged To My Great Grandpa. It Came With A Vintage How To Sketch Book

Precision vintage drafting tools.

Spoon Type Thing With A Metal Plate And Hole?

My husband and I went thrift shopping and found this weird sterling silver spoon but we have no idea what it’s used for? Looked up the brand “reed and Barton” and found that it’s an old sterling silver company but couldn’t find a spoon like this anywhere. Anyone know what it is or what it’s used for?

The End Appears To Be Rabbit Hair And The Handle Is Like A Marbled Bakelite Or Maybe Plastic?

It’s a powder puff wand for face powder. This is a very nice example! Also called a “patter wand”. The idea was popping/beating the powder on your face has a more finished look than using your hand.

Found At Antique Festival Near Atlanta, Is 17″ By 5.5″

It’s for rolling newspapers into a “log” for the fireplace.

Found This Hidden In The Ceiling Of My Basement With A Bunch Of Others. Made Out Of Glass, Appears To Have Some Sort Of Tape Or Paper Border Around It

Nice find! Magic Lantern glass slide.

Old Leather Boot With Long Metal Spikes. Leather Is Old And Stiff, Sole Is Wood, Metal With Nails Or Rivets Around The Sole, 4” Spikes. Seems Like It Might Be A Mountaineering Boot

They’re for crushing chestnuts.

Found In A Demolition Along With Old Money. They Appear To Made From Some Sort Of Fabric

These are German emergency bills that were issued in times when there wasn’t enough money available at the central bank. I believe the ones you have may be made of silk or linen.

Expandable Metal Circle With Chain And Lid. This Top Comes Off But Is Attached With A Hinge. When The Top Is Off It Can Expand

It says it’s from Germany. It belonged to an antique shop owner who didn’t know what it was.

Found This Cast Iron Coffin In A Closed Funeral Home. I Have Ideas On What It Is, But Want To Be Absolutely Sure

I would guess it’s a version of the Fiske coffin. These coffins were designed after the advent of major railway transportation and offered airtight coffins. This helped to naturally preserve the body. When people began traveling far from families and then subsequently dying, people needed a way to transport bodies long distances to get them back for the funeral and last goodbyes from living relatives.

The window was put in place for health reasons. Should a person have died while in quarantine or from a deadly disease, the window allowed relatives to see and confirm the body’s identity before burial.

I Found This Ring In My Backyard While Doing Gardening. After Cleaning It, It Doesn’t Look Like A Normal Ring. Any Ideas?

It’s a Georgian/early Victorian mourning ring. The initials belong to the lost loved one.

They were typically made from gold (18k+) and enameled in black. Yours looks like it was made around the 1820s-40s.

Found In The Basement Of German House That Was Built Shortly Before World War II

Mortar and pestle. A very old one, too.

Found In The Yard Of My Old House. Agra, India

My father sent a few samples to the Archaeological Survey of India in Agra, as suggested by many, so thank you. Those of you who said they are Terracotta figures, you were correct. They are Portuguese Terracotta figures from the 3rd to 4th century. Though there haven’t been many accounts of such well-preserved Terracottas, they’re not uncommon for the area of Agra, as the Taj Mahal features many Terracotta designs and mouldings. I can’t believe I thought these figurines were nothing of value, and considered throwing them away. Thank you all again for urging me not to throw these away, notifying me about ASI, and warning me about scammers. For now, my family plans on keeping the figures in a safe place.

Made Of Wood. Too Shallow To Store Pens. Hangs On Wall

It is for a large box of matches.

Open Spoon With Spikes; Trident-Like Fork; Tongs With A Chicken Foot And A Perforated Spoon. All Antique Silver

Olive server, lettuce server, ice tongs. Having a talon on ice tongs is a novelty feature, but there are a lot of them out there!

What Is This Large Vessel I Found In The Basement Of An Old Psychiatric Hospital?

Looks like a great big autoclave used to sterilize mattresses and bedding.

Found In My Grandparents Basement. What Is This?

Solitaire Game. It’s pretty expensive.

Mom Found This In A Box In The Attic

Phurba, a three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail-like ritual implement deeply rooted in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Bön traditions.

A Departed Someone Loved To Garage Sale Shop. Trying To Identify This Old Antique. I Think It May Be Used To Hang Or Display Clothing But I’m Really Not Sure

It’s a valet stand. It holds a man’s suit and other accessories.

Antique From The 1800’s, Have To Figure Out What It Is For A School Project

Antique Soap Saver. Small scraps of soap were put in the cage, and when people did dishes by hand, the soap saver was swished though the dishwater to made suds.

Found In An Antique Store

It’s a wild boar tooth.

Found This In Grandpas Box Of Old Things. Might Be From Asia Because Of The 3rd Eye? Any Ideas?

Sorry for the letdown… This was part of a set of premiums for malted milk. Very cool, but not very exotic.

Just Moved To A New Apartment, Found This In The Living Room. What Is This?

It is an antique Turkish brazier, used for heating. Also called a mangal.

Found In An Old Junk Drawer

Traveling ink well 100%.

Landlord Found It In The Basement. Heavy Metal. Google Isn’t Responding Well To “Scary Wand”

Soldering iron. The end you are holding is the head, and is usually copper. The other end would normally have a wood handle.

Found In A House Along With Lots Of Old Maritime Artifacts

Knot gauge/ speed log. Basically, a boat speedometer. The propeller looking object is in the water, spinning as the boat moves, the rope spins and moves the dial, letting you know the speed as indicated on the dial.

Ceramic Dachshund With Small Dish On One Side And Larger Rectangle Dish With Holes In The Bottom On The Other Side. No Markings. Found At The Relative’s House

It’s a ceramic dresser valet from approximately the 1950s! The square side is to hold a wallet, and the round one to hold misc small items from your pocket.

What Is This Thing? Circular Thing On A Post In An Antique Place

This is an Engine Order Telegraph used in older marine vessels. Allowed the Captain remote communication with the ship’s engine room.

A Knife I Received From A Friend. His Grandparents Had Owned It. Seems Pretty Old And Rustic! Any Ideas?

I think it’s specific to the early 20th century. Moroccan Koummya dagger. They look very similar, look kind of the same materials and the shape, and the bevels on the blade look identical.

Cleaning Out A House And Came Across This. The Little Cup At The Top Swings Back And Forth. Says It’s From Japan

It’s a bridal cup. Bridal cups are a Nuerenberg, Germany tradition that date back to the 1400’s. It represents the start of a life long union between man and woman and is a symbol of faithfulness and good luck.

The small swiveling cup and inverted hollow dress were designed to allow both bride and groom to drink simultaneously to toast their wedding. The groom would drink from the larger cup (the inverted skirt), and bride would drink from the small swivel cup.

Wood Artefact With Fabric Stripes. It Seems An Old Piece Of Furniture. Picture Taken At A Market In Piedmont, Italy

Victorian fireplace screen like this.

Teeny Tiny Flask-May Be 100 Years Old And Smells Like Cloves Inside

It is for toothaches, not perfumes. The clove and design give it away. The perfume necklaces are usually very delicate; they are usually made of silver, and those are the ones that survived to be antiques today.

I Found This Under The Floorboards In A 1800s-Era House

Removed the top of soft-boiled eggs, I think.

My Father Found And Bought This At A Garage Sale Last Week. It’s Cool To The Touch, And The Little Doors Make A Clinking Sound, So I’m Guessing It’s Carved Stone

It looks like it features images from the Nativity of Christ–the overall shape being the stable where he was born. Based on the artistic style, possibly Coptic (Ethiopian Christians)? Their iconography looks extremely similar.

Probably Around 5kg, Found In An Antique Shop In Australia. About 20-30cm Deep With A Binocular-Like Leather Case, Not Sure If Removable

It’s a Geiger counter.

Knife Found At The Bottom Of My Grandfather’s Belongings. Supposedly, It Was Given To Him By My Great Aunt, Who Was A Diplomat Pretty Much All Over Asia During The Vietnam War

Big one is definitely a khukuri, I’m from Nepal. As for the two smaller ones, The “Karda” (one edge sharpened) is a small utility knife used to perform small tasks that the big kukri blade cannot. The “Chakmak” (Both edges dull/unsharpened) is the sharpener used to sharpen both the main blade, which is the Kukri.

Found An Antique Metal Object At My Local Charity Shop. It Is In The Shape Of A Droplet And Has Button Or Pressing Mechanism And A Tiny Hole In The Top

1930s Art Deco Marcel Franck Atomizer Perfume Bottle.

Picked This Up At A Local Antique Shop. The Left Side Is Copper Lined, The Right Side Is Not, And The Center Divider Is Concave

It looks something like an old “smokers table”. The copper could be an ashtray and the curved area could be for bottles as well. Combined booze and tobacco table?

Old Mechanical Device Found In A Dumpster. Extreme Heavy. Cash Register? Mechanical Calculator?

It is indeed a mechanical calculator, an Odhner 1950/60’s model.

What Is This Antique Fork Looking Tool, And What Is It Used For?

It’s an ice breaker.

Wall Mounted Wooden Antique Cylinder With Belt Mechanism That Rotates The Cylinder – Labels Says “Charles Parker Manufacturing”

I believe it is a map roller for multiple maps. Each map would have been attached in one of the visible slots. The map would be selected by pulling down on the rope close to the wall, then reversed to display the chosen map. My memory of it is vague, but I once saw something like this in an old bank office that was being dismantled in about 1960. I do not recall seeing it operated. There is likely some sort of spring loaded ratchet mechanism involved, hence the noisy operation.

Cylindrical Unfolding Artefact. It’s Quite Heavy With Metal Hinges. Recovered From Grandparents’ Home

It’ a travel triptych.

Found In A Garden. Metallic Object That Closes In On Itself

Looks like a Hindu ritual box. It is missing the middle piece that would sit in that central hole.

Found In An Unfinished Basement Of An Old Home. Looks Like A Coin But It’s Hollow And Opens Up

Possibly it was a coin lighter, but now it’s missing some parts.

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This big hunk of metal found near some train tracks:

“Slag from a thermite rail weld would be my guess.”

“Totally this. They welded the tracks near where I used to work and there was tons of slag left behind. They were collected in square pans on each side of the weld.”

This pair of heavy metal legs that contain screw holes:

“Vintage school desk frame.”

This giant brass key that belonged to someone’s grandfather:

“Found it! It’s an ADT Type W Watchman’s Key for an 1180 Watchman system. They would do the rounds, and the key would fit into systems to ensure that the watchman visited all the waypoints on the route.”

This conical metal item that was found on the shores of the Black Sea in Istanbul, Türkiye:

“It looks very similar to the nosecone and structure on the ramjets for a Russian KH-31 missile”

“While nowhere near as rare as it once was — it used to be called ‘unobtainium’ by engineers — titanium is still pretty rare for anything but fighter jets and sporks. (Yes, I know titanium is used for other things; I was trying to be funny.)

That said, wash your hands. Some of the materials used on fighters these days are hideously carcinogenic, and it says ‘don’t touch’ right there.”

This pointed, pickle-shaped green glass found on the banks of the River Thames in West London, UK:

“Base of an old torpedo bottle!”

This hard string with two oval-shaped kernels attached to either end:

“It looks to me like the anther and filament parts that make up the stamen from a fake flower. The string would be folded in half so that the ‘kernels’ are at the same end, and the part with the red stain would be at the bottom of the inside of the flower. The red stain makes me think that the petals were red and the dye has run.”

“I can confirm that’s exactly what this is. My mom used to yell at me all the time for pulling these out of her fake flowers. I used them as bolas for my action figures.”

This inch-long piece of metal found on the beach:

“The remains of the jacket from a 1″ Nordenfelt projectile. There was originally a steel core held in that brass cup. The idea was that it would punch through boat hulls, and the brass part was to engage with the rifling of the gun. The gun itself is pretty weird and very old (1870-1890). You fired it by cranking a lever back and forth. It was widely used, too.”

This metal device found in central Kentucky:

“It’s a mouthpiece puller for brass instruments. Looks like it’s missing a piece on top of the center screw.”

“You are absolutely correct. I looked up what that looks like, but modern ones are much simpler designs using fewer but precision-made screws. However, I found one on this page that’s very similar in shape and concept (but made of metal) called a Ferree’s puller.”

This tray made of paper pulp the owner believed was related to embalming:

“It’s a cranial cap. You put it under the head to absorb leaking brain goo.”

“You would place that on the pillow of a casket for someone who has had a cranial autopsy done (removal of the brain). It is to absorb any liquid that may seep through the sutures used on the scalp. Better in this than all over the pillow because it would most likely be blood. I’ve been a mortician for 40 years.”

“Funeral Director/Embalmer here. Agree with the other posters. Could be wrong, but this one looks used. Would not recommend touching bare-handed. We use numerous chemicals that an alive person should not touch directly.”

This metal wind-up device found in the crawl space of an old house:

“Looks like the drive mechanism to an antique toy car.”

“Looks like the handle for a dust mop.”

This cast-iron device mounted to a wooden base that spins and chops down:

“I know this one; it’s a Victorian-era food chopper! I know it from this video. I think yours is the same manufacturer as in the video, the now well-known measuring equipment maker Starrett.”

This spring-shaped piece of metal with a pointy tip:

“Spiral poultry lacer.”

This yellow, hinged piece of plastic found in a sewing kit:

“It’s used to attach jeans buttons. The button goes on one side, and the rivet pointy thing goes on the other, and you snap them together.”

This wooden thing with a particle board “blade” and hollow drum found in a thrift store in Pennsylvania:

“That’s a Tremulant (aka vox humana) for an old reed organ.”

These two metal rectangles, one with a blade and one with an indented side:

“It’s a magnesium fire starter, but the flint rod has separated from the magnesium and is missing.”

This 23″ long, hollow metal tube with a connector of some kind:

“A part of a helicopter rotor?”

“It is definitely this. The triangular part is used to affix the blades, and in the middle is a spring assembly that absorbs the forces and allows the rotation of the arm. Probably from an Alouette 2 or 3.”

This small bendable item with one adhesive side:

“Bendable/adjustable cable manager.”

This little tiny pocket on the back of this shirt:

“It’s a vestigial device deliberately installed into a great number of imported shirts so that they classify as a specific article of clothing which avoids a tariff.”

“It’s called a ‘nurse pocket,’ and it’s there for reasons others commented.”

“After some discussion, the original poster, u/kurtneylove, said they’d found the details: “Apparently, they are ‘mini-hammocks’ for toddlers.””

Credits: www.buzzfeed.com

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