What is It? Game 21.

This week’s collaboration with What is It? Blog brings us this mysterious object. Check out What is It? for clues.

Because I missed two weeks’ worth of games, let’s do this: First one to guess correctly and funniest guess win Free Neatorama T-Shirts (so total 2 winners).

Place your guess in the comment section - do not post any URL, let others play, please!

Update 5/11/07: Ha! No one got it right - here’s the answer:

I didn’t know that there was a need for such a product, but apparently when milking cows, serious eye injury can occur from the switching of the cow tail. The device below is a cow tail holder, when in use the larger end clamps to the leg and the other end attaches to the tail.

It was patented in 1891, number 444,428, over 100 other patents for a wide range of contraptions that perform the same task can be found on Google patents.

According to this site, the inventor of a cow tail holder estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 milkmaids or milkmen received severe eye injuries each year.

Safe Work Practices on a Dairy Farm has more information on the risks and dangers of dairy farming.

Funniest comment winner: Beth #63. It was the photoshop job that did it! - congrats!

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Posted on

May 10, 2007 at 3:19 am by Alex
Category: What Is It

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64 comments to "What is It? Game 21."

jonno
May 10th, 2007 at 3:35 am
is it a monkey?
Paul
May 10th, 2007 at 6:00 am
some sort of caliper.
lyna
May 10th, 2007 at 6:12 am
cissors!
:o)
lyna
May 10th, 2007 at 6:14 am
and an ice picker!
sorry, i forgot to add it in my first comment…
quinnn
May 10th, 2007 at 6:25 am
tweazers
diaz
May 10th, 2007 at 6:27 am
A sheep torture device. To make them tell the truth where they are hiding their mother-ship from where they will launch an invasion on earth. Part of their plan has already succeed in New Zealand. Stop their invasion!!!
Lucy
May 10th, 2007 at 6:39 am
Circumcision instrument from the dark ages!!

Men - think yourselves lucky this little baby isnt being used today….
Tyler
May 10th, 2007 at 6:51 am
Apple.
Nic
May 10th, 2007 at 6:56 am
A fanny flaps machine for stopping them sticking together when you have sat in toffee.
Tim Giachetti
May 10th, 2007 at 6:56 am
It’s an Iron Anteater!
Tom
May 10th, 2007 at 7:07 am
It’s a lockpicking tool
Barjak
May 10th, 2007 at 7:16 am
This is a tool that can be used to carry your pet rabbits. The shape of the tool, on the right, is studied so that the body and the head of your lovely rabbits fits perfectly. The ears of the rabbit is then passed through the metal piece, and blocked by the clip on the left. The two handles on the side make it easy to carry your beloved pet anywhere !
Dan
May 10th, 2007 at 7:43 am
A surgical device for retracting skin?
Willy Volk
May 10th, 2007 at 7:50 am
It’s a caliper for measuring the dimensions of a skull.
Miss Cellania
May 10th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Is it an instrument of torture?
Debbie J.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:29 am
It’s a double ended jar/ bottle opener!
mockandawe
May 10th, 2007 at 8:33 am
A robot stethoscope.
Clyde
May 10th, 2007 at 8:45 am
It’s a pair of Forceps for delivering babies.
Beth
May 10th, 2007 at 9:07 am
blacksmith tongs
Kimberly S
May 10th, 2007 at 9:08 am
scissors
Zandt K
May 10th, 2007 at 9:21 am
It looks like a tool used in glass blowing to make different shapes in the glass.
Brian
May 10th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Purple Nurple deliverer. Use this tool for maximum effect!
dude
May 10th, 2007 at 9:36 am
some sort of 19th century ob/gyn device
Lhyzz
May 10th, 2007 at 9:48 am
forceps for delivering babies
Ken
May 10th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Sheep shearing tool
Tim Giachetti
May 10th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Damn! Zandt is right.
Ruste
May 10th, 2007 at 10:11 am
To me…and this is just a guess…but to me, it looks like the skull from a turn-of-the-century steampunk chicken… BEEP-BEEP-BEECAWWWK!!!
Taterdog
May 10th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Medieval torture devise used by members of the Spanish Inquistion to extort the truth. I believe these were heated over a coal fire prior to use.
jonno
May 10th, 2007 at 11:16 am
Wolverine Egg Harvester
Rosemary Mann
May 10th, 2007 at 11:21 am
It’s my guess that this is a key to one of those marvelous chastity belts, designed to keep women from having as much fun as their significan others.
Drew
May 10th, 2007 at 11:41 am
It’s a bloodless castrator. To castrate bulls without cutting the skin, you clamp this around the scrotum to crush the vas deferens within it.
Alex
May 10th, 2007 at 11:45 am
What? No banana guesses? What is this world coming to?
Charlotte
May 10th, 2007 at 11:47 am
To add to Clyde:
It is forceps WITH the tool for the episiotomy all in one.
Randall
May 10th, 2007 at 12:08 pm
This device resembles a locksmith’s ‘raking’ tool for opening locks, but is in all actuality a mezzobrawnic cliffer, or a ‘cliffee’ in the parlance hedge wizards. It is used in conjuction with a forthee and vigaluck to renovate crop circlers. Notice the worn appearence and slight deformation of the after spengle. Obviously this once servicable tool has been hard used by a careless evoker.
Lu Allen
May 10th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Did you know that Suzanne Somers actually stole the idea for the thigh master from the Victorian era? Yep, that right folks, this is â€œThe Genuine Thigh Masterâ€ and it comes with a double whammy of the butt clincher as noted on the reverse side of the item in question. It tightens everything a Victorian girl needed and yeah, they were tough, no fancy colours or padding required
nathan
May 10th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
is it a banana stapler?
merlin
May 10th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
it lookis like a simple key with it’s own clip so you can attack it to your pants.
rockflanders
May 10th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Its a lockpicking gun, push it into the lock, pull the trigger it shoots the tumblers up into the top and youtwist the gun to turn the barrel and open the lock.
Coyote
May 10th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
Looks like a tool used for shoeing horses, the bit on the right is used to grip and loosen the shoe and the back pries and separates it from the hoof. I believe I saw Mike Roe use one of these on an episode of Dirty Jobs, Tuesdays 9pm ETS on the Discovery Channel.
jonno
May 10th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
well im still saying monkey, or a monkey with a banana
Catherine
May 10th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
It’s a really early version of the jaws of life?
Rich Grise
May 10th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
A Klingon speculum.
Oliver
May 10th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
An extremely painful eyelash extender.
Ferfaniel
May 10th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
AK-47 (beta version)
the vainglorious teemo!
May 10th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I would venture it is for antiquated dentistry — like dental pliers (man, no wonder they got stewed before going to the dentist back when)
marksaldana
May 10th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
ancient castration thingie.
bub
May 10th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Marital aid
The Corinthian
May 10th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
A hair pleater.
lovemeoride236
May 10th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
Its an artifact for handling coal or hot objects (metal?)
lovemeordie236
May 10th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Deuxy-Glucosal Ribosome
HvyWgt
May 10th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
It’s a glove stretcher,small end for the fingers-large end for the body of the glove.

If only they had it at the O.J. trial….
Beaucephus
May 10th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
A Key
Grahf
May 10th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
Looks like an old-timey speculum to me (used for giving women gynocological exams).
Alex
May 10th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Oooh, this is a good one. Over 50 guesses and nothing even came close. As usual, the answer comes tomorrow, guys - you’ve still got time.
Mossel
May 10th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Is it a mole-trap of some sort?
ruby
May 10th, 2007 at 11:25 pm
a device for tuning musical instruments
ruby
May 10th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
a tool for dissecting whales
Barjak
May 11th, 2007 at 3:08 am
This is a tool to build yourself the MacFly 2015′ shoes.
cory
May 11th, 2007 at 6:18 am
a gynecological tool?
sorry but maybe it is.
Clemons
May 11th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Some sort of German Torture Device
Jeff
May 11th, 2007 at 10:29 am
It’s the innards from the head of a mechanical chicken or rooster.
Yupper
May 11th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Early Proctology tool.The smaller secondary opening on the large jaws was to clip it to the saddle horn where it was readily at hand for the door to door frontier proctologist.
Beth
May 11th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
It’s a device to hold your pet kiwi while you are eating dinner. The rounded clamp part fits exactly around his little body and the skinny end clamps to the table.

They may be lacking in the limb department and this may sound cruel, but after you’ve had one pecking at your ankles during an otherwise fantastic meal, you won’t feel that bad for them when you have them attached to your dinner table. (Exhibit A: http://bp3.blogger.com/_3hp8bbBoBKc/RkSpZraP3gI/AAAAAAAAAGE/CMzQ1Yi6UQ 0/s320/kiwi.bmp [which is not a spoiler in any way...just bad photoshop])
Barjak
May 14th, 2007 at 3:25 am
baaah, Beth just replaced “pet rabbit” with “pet wiki” from my comment :p
But okay, he (she ?)’s got a real photoshop talent

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