These 16 Weird Items Were A Complete Mystery Until The Internet Figured Out What They Were
Many things change every day in this world, but one thing that stays constant is people finding weird little doodads and doohickeys and not being entirely sure just what the heck they are. Lucky for us, the kind folks over at r/whatisthisthing are here to identify them:
1.This pair of hinged spoons found in a thrift store:
u/FoxFrockedFriar / Via reddit.com
"Are they standard measures (e.g., table and teaspoon)? Could be a portable measuring set, probably for medicines?"
The original poster, u/FoxFrocked Friar, replied, "Checks out to both amounts. Thanks!"
"This."
2.This wooden cutting board with a round indentation:
3.This padded, red leather stool found in a private members' club in London, England:
"I always thought stools like this were called gout stools. Yours is one of the many different styles and forms they came in."
"Ah ha! I think you've nailed it! It's tilted on its side as a padded footrest. 'Finished with an inset butler's grasp for moving across a room.'
Gout stools were considered a status symbol due to gout's association with wealth and overindulgence in rich foods and alcohol. They were part of a broader cultural understanding of gout as 'the disease of kings' or 'rich man's disease.' In addition to providing physical relief, gout stools feature prominently in period art and literature, often used to symbolize excess and the consequences of an overly luxurious lifestyle."
4.This hard plastic tool found in a sewing kit:
"Could be a hera marker."
The original poster, u/OhMyCuticles, replied, "Thanks, that’s totally the name for it!"
5.The concentric circles and raised dots on these two can lids:
"I actually know this!!! I actually know too much about this!!! I can't believe there is something so random on here that I was directly involved with at the very beginning. I was one of the first press mechanics involved with setting up the manufacturing line (and purchasing the press that started this). This has likely evolved in the 25-30 years since I was involved, but here are some nuggets of information.
The dots are multi-purpose. Their first purpose is to deflect anything that might catch the tab, snag it, and accidentally break the seal (the pressure needed to do so is tested often). The second is to help align the lid as it goes through the press stages for the tab placement (the lid center is flat with the rolled outer ring housing sealant) before it hits this press. The press has multiple highspeed steps: forming the tab, adding the rings, dimples, the tab itself to the lid, and finally ejecting it out to the track towards the testers. Third, when you pull back on the top, the dimples also give it a location to 'crease' the top, allowing better leverage to finish pulling the top free.
The rings themselves are structural in a way — but are more important for expansion if the can is deformed due to being dropped or temperature differential, minimizing the risk to the breakable seal, as well as also enabling enough space for a person to get their fingertip under the tab to open it.
In my mid-20s (mid/late 1990s), I worked as a press mechanic for a can manufacturer in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, that manufactured tin cans for a majority of the major canning companies.
So yeah. Now you know too much about pop-top tin cans. :)"
6.This sharp, metal antique medical tool:
"It appears to be an antique tonsil guillotine. The pincers near the end grip the tonsils, and the end part slices the tonsils off. Yeah, it looks painful."
7.This ornate ceramic dispenser complete with basin and lid:
"It's a wall-mounted holy water dispenser/font. The water goes into the tank on top, and the cover minimizes evaporation. The little tap opens to drip the holy water into the lower receptacle, which visitors can then dip their fingers in to make the sign of the cross."
8.This small, square stamped piece of metal:
"There was a Joan of Arc canning company in Illinois in the 1880s that used tokens. Workers were often paid in tokens based on how many goods they canned. And, of course, those tokens could only be redeemed in the company store."
9.This cast-iron item with three legs and stamped numbers:
u/Icy_Spend_3870 / Via reddit.com
"It’s a hat bloc or 'cloche,' which is French for bell. This was used to give shape to a hat. Most hats were made out of felted cone shapes, which were then steamed and pulled over heated shapes to fix their size. The number and letter stamped on it would indicate the style and size.
The feet underneath were to keep the bell shape over a flame or a steamer. The little rim at the bottom is where a rope was tied around the shape to keep tension on the material as it was being pulled on the shape.
Here is a link to a similar one being sold on Etsy."
10.This device with Russian writing found in an antique shop in Australia:
"It’s a Geiger counter."
11.This sharp, wooden rod someone found in their home when they moved in:
u/pftomo / Via reddit.com
"Maasai spear missing the spearhead."
12.This wooden object with a knob that lowers/raises a carved disc:
u/lu_lu_diamonds / Via reddit.com
"Butter mold."
The original poster, u/lu_lu_diamonds, replied, "Thank you for solving the mystery! My grandmother has Alzheimer’s, so she couldn’t remember what it was. I’d like to use it again with her and see if that rekindles a memory of it for her."
13.This long wooden rod made up of six small triangular rods:
u/ryugetsu-sweetpia / Via reddit.com
"This would have held a newspaper in a library or reading room. Shown here with magazines, too."
14.These flat brass plates with five small holes in them:
"Sole of a golf club! From when woods were wood."
15.This hand-carved, wooden item found in a Goodwill in Virginia:
u/kalinkabeek / Via reddit.com
"Seems to be a dulcimer stand."
"This is the correct answer. Doug Felt was a noted dulcimer player."
16.And finally, this pair of wooden-handled items that were found in an elementary teacher's supplies:
"Looks like tools for a classic demonstration of expansion of an object when heated. In this demo, the ball will not fit through the circle when both are at the same temperature. But when the circle is heated, it expands, and the ball will fit through."
"That’s exactly what it is. I am a science teacher and have one myself for that demonstration."
If you enjoyed looking at all these interesting objects, check out some other items identified by the internet here:
16 Weird Objects People Never Could Have Identified If The Internet Hadn't Helped Out
17 Bizarre Items That Left People Baffled Until The Internet Came To The Rescue
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and clarity.
