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.

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.

–TwoDragons