What is It? Game 7.

Our weekly What is It? game, in collaboration of the What is It? blog is this strange tool: guess what it is and win a free Neatorama T-Shirt (I think I’ll one t-shirt contest a month from now on, till my supplies run out).

Game rules: place your guess on the comment section below but post no URL links (let others play, please!). Past winners can play, but won’t win anymore T-shirts, ok?

While you’re at it, definitely check out the What is It? blog for more fun stuff!

Update 1/12/07: It’s a corn sheller (patent 99106). Congrats to withvous for the correct answer!

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January 11, 2007 at 2:05 am by Alex
Category: What Is It

From our new online store:


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42 comments to "What is It? Game 7."

Steve James
January 11th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Is this a cutter for cutting sugar off a sugar loaf?
David
January 11th, 2007 at 3:28 am
A figure 8 for ropes
Justin R
January 11th, 2007 at 4:07 am
Maybe something that you hook something through but can pull out quickly, so maybe like a blacksmith has something hot he hangs it on that and can just yank it down when its done.
BlackTiger
January 11th, 2007 at 4:49 am
It seems like a an ornate Coat Rack….

or some kind of holder. Probably not a coat rack

The mechanism is clearly pliers-like, with a rubber band to keep it shut, and the board looks like it mounts vertically on a wall…

Pure conjecture.
Eugenio MartÃnez Sierra
January 11th, 2007 at 7:17 am
Some mechanism to open nuts?

A Nut opener or Nut breaker or nut cracker… I donÂ´t know how can I say it in English.

Or maybe itÂ´s something completely different. :S
ALLEN
January 11th, 2007 at 7:37 am
It is a chicken clamp. This would be mounted on a wall and there should be a leather strap in place of the rubber band. You would put a chicken’s neck in the clamp and secure it with the leather strap and then pluck and gut the chicken.
Sudeep
January 11th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Seems to be a blade holder used to cut fishes/vegetables/stuff in most parts of South Asia.
Laurie Georgeson
January 11th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I think it’s an ironing board of some sort; you would put the neck of the shirt in the pressurized clamp part of it, and then the shirt would lay on the board and you could iron it.
Lynn
January 11th, 2007 at 8:51 am
Oops. I’m a little late. Someone’s already said what I was going to say - a nutcracker.
iphi
January 11th, 2007 at 9:03 am
I agree on the nutcracker.
ch1ll3v
January 11th, 2007 at 9:53 am
To hold a fish while you clean it???
Brian
January 11th, 2007 at 11:25 am
A ceiling fan blade
Denita TwoDragons
January 11th, 2007 at 11:35 am
A boot jack? You stand on the board, and use the fancy metal part to pull your boots off (or on, using the clamp part…)

–TwoDragons
Dan
January 11th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Looks upside-down to me. Is it an armrest from a chair? Part of a desk perhaps?
Jenna
January 11th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
it’s a fan blade for a ceiling fan!
Karyn
January 11th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I think it’s an elaborate door handle or maybe a knocker for your front door.
Storm
January 11th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
I would say that Laurie Georgeson is more or less correct.

This does indeed resemble something very commonly used for ironing, but it was not used with an iron since it is from a time when the iron was not yet a household item. Instead you used it in conjunction with a round stick used to roll the fabric. The idea is to smooth linen.

In Norwegian this is known as a “Mangletre”, from the German “mangelen” (which I suppose means “mangle”) and the Norwegian “tre” (”wood”). It was common for a bride groom to offer one of these beauties to his new bride as a gift. Lucky girls. You would get quite a workout from using these.

here in Norway they are nearly always decorated with a handle shaped like a horse. I have never seen a fancy moving metal handle like this before. Don’t know it’s function.
Meghan
January 11th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
It’s a ceiling fan paddle
marinho
January 11th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
I think it is a kind of handcuffs.
akgb
January 11th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
i agree with the door knocker
mindy
January 11th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
I think when ALLEN Says:
It is a chicken clamp. This would be mounted on a wall and there should be a leather strap in place of the rubber band. You would put a chickenâ€™s neck in the clamp and secure it with the leather strap and then pluck and gut the chicken.
if he is not right he is pretty close if not right on the spikes on the clamp mean for the animal or item to e held so yeah it could also be used for skinning
Wendy
January 11th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
It is a fan blade.
Bud
January 11th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Used for holding fish so you can filet them….
Andres Hax
January 11th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Its a wedge for holding a door open.
Kct
January 11th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
No no no… It is a device that keep window opened. Without it, the wind makes the window to knock.
Scott Gibson
January 11th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
It is a tobacco cutter. Used for leaf tobacco in local stores a looong time ago. Saw one on the Antiques Roadshow once.
Sarah
January 11th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I also think it’s a bootjack.
finglet
January 11th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
It’s a very fancy and ornate plane, used to shave wood.
andrew
January 11th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
i think its a fish scaler.
Kevin
January 12th, 2007 at 1:04 am
maybe it was used on old ships…where the metal part clamps around the necks of wine bottles to prevent them from falling during rough sailing conditions
Alex
January 12th, 2007 at 1:06 am
Oooh, this is a hard one, apparently.

It’s not a: nutcracker, coat rack, chicken clamp, fish holder, ceiling blade fan, boot jack, door handle, window or door anything, ironing board part, or a wood plane.

Now, a hint is in order: vegetable cutter is close, but not quite correct. Think along this path and the t-shirt can be yours.

Rob of What is It? blog and I will call it on 1/12/07.
Gregg
January 12th, 2007 at 3:11 am
Its a boot jack..
Taplin
January 12th, 2007 at 8:38 am
How about a coconut husker?
Nonya
January 12th, 2007 at 9:11 am
Fruit peeler?
David
January 12th, 2007 at 9:17 am
It’s a flag holder
PurpZeY
January 12th, 2007 at 11:12 am
Looks like a tomato (or other veggie) crusher for sauces and salves and things.
martin wojtkiewicz
January 12th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
hat holder
withvous
January 12th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Corn husker?
Ted
January 12th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
It’s an old time mellon baller.
withvous
January 12th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
..or a corn Sheller, whatever you choose to call it.
Alex
January 12th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Guessed right by withvous, just in the nick of time! It’s a corn sheller. There’s even a patent on it: Patent 99106.
Storm
January 13th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Lol. I thought it was one of these. Oh well. Good job Withveous! http://www.wendelboe.no/kunst/auksjoner/2004/4_04/images/59.jpg

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