What is it? Game 65

1. Evilbeagle
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:00 am

   One of those date stamp things?

2. Jeff666666
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:16 am

   librarian's ink stamp for the book's due date

3. scott anderson
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:32 am

   I would say an early numbering stamp. Looke like maybe squeezing the grip advances the numbers, so you could sequentially label items?

   Or maybe a hand-held 99-year time machine?

4. Hollywood
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:43 am

   Its obviously a hand held numbering tool but considering it is a foot long and only goes to 99 I am going to guess its maybe for keeping inventory. Maybe as part of a brand for cattle?

5. Amanderpanderer
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:45 am

   It's for putting the shipping cost on items at the post office. It only goes up to 99 cents.

6. Chad
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:50 am

   Looks like a twisting number system for a combination lock. I had a bike lock that looked similar.

7. Nostra
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:53 am

   A terrible sexual act... I really shouldn't say...

8. mario
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:57 am

   is it a tool for marking cows/cattle?

9. Harley
   June 5th, 2008 at 7:57 am

   Kind of looks like an early version of a clicker counter.

10. Dah-veed
    June 5th, 2008 at 7:58 am

    A numbering stamp (die) for metal. Put to the digits that you want and then swing it down to indent into the object.

11. mario
    June 5th, 2008 at 7:59 am

    another: was it used for tagging prices?

12. Charlie Bluefish
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:18 am

    I've read the other comments.

    I initially wondered if it might be for counting people (entering an entertainment event) or animals in - a kind of stock check.

    But numbers are back to front indicating that it would require some kind of stamping or branding (as said by Hollywoood) allowing numbers to be read the right way round. I would rule out branding due to the size of the numbers. Also you would expect there to be a longer distance between what is being heated up to being red hot and the person holding it. The circular design also doesn't seem right for branding.

    The hand-held gadget seems designed to allow quick and easy movement of the numbers, ranging from 00 to 99. So it could be a stock numbering tool, but what happens if you have 100 of the same item? Perhaps a pricing tool makes more sense, as already suggested by Amanderpanderer.

    What about age? I have no idea but guessing 1850-1910.

    Also, I like the look of it. I bet it would feel good to hold, but not sure about it's usefulness as a sex toy!! Ouch, Nostra. That's just wrong.

13. Liza
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:22 am

    My guess is that it's for accounting books or anything where you need a numbered list. You just rotate the numbers and then roll over an inkpad and roll down a sheet of paper. VOILA! a numbered list.

14. konshuss
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:31 am

    no no, you're all wrong. it's for decorating your walls, doors, curtains, neighbours, with those cool Matrix numbers. just a nice swipe down with the two-numbered system and 15 hours later you're finished. this harkens back to the digit wars of the late 1800s between schick and gillette, who were constantly one-upping each other by releasing these matrix stamps with one more number column than the competitor. by the time they reached 100 and it weighed over 300lbs, the fad died out.

15. Paul D.
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:32 am

    It's a lumber marker.

16. DB
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:39 am

    I think it's for leather stamping (with numerals, obviously).

17. nick
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:44 am

    its for numbering cheese wheels.

18. ryber3
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:46 am

    It's used to stamp info onto wheels of cheese

19. Adam Stanhope
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:48 am

    It's an incremental number printer for an older printing press.

20. Emile
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:34 am

    You smack people across the face with it. My grandfather's dad used to use it on him, so now he has "93461" forever stamped onto his cheek.

21. Jim
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:43 am

    It's for sequentially numbering/stamping, most likely, cardboard boxes. The ease of advancing the numbers with the gizmo on the handle is the giveaway. Everytime you stamp a box, the number can be advanced... you don't want this to happen if it were being used as a simple price gun.

22. Kurtis
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:44 am

    I think that it's for labeling barrels of wine with the year. Smack a barrel and BLAM ! You got a label.

23. The Mattador
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Reading through these comments has left me to feel nauseous at peoples' apparent lack of historical knowledge. Allow me to inform the masses.

    During the great depression, families had to line up to recieve government provided meat and cheese from a regional government-opperated butcher shop. Those were tough times back then, tough times. So tough, in fact, that famlies had to wait in long lines. This device was a government project designed to increase efficincy in these markets. it worked like this:

    1.) A representative from each family in line would take a number. (Similar to the deli at your local grocery store? That's right! This is where it all started.)

    2.) The clerk would take the order and send it back to the boys in the butchering room.

    3.) The butchers would cut the meat and cheese for the order.

    4.) This is where the device-in-question comes in. They would use the device to stamp the meat and cheese with the corresponding number held by the customer. The shop worker could swing the device like a hammer to stamp the food and the device was capable of rapidly advancing in numerical sequence simply by actuating the lever on the side.

    5.) The meat and cheese were then wheel-barrowed to the front counter along with other peoples orders, and because they were all stamped, the clerks could differentiate between them.

    6.) Ta da! The food is united with the hungry American family.

    Now there you have it! Riddle solved! By the way, to develop this tool the government spent 42 million dollars, and if you think that sounds like a lot, just think how much it was in 1935! But as you can see, it was worth every penny as it helped us, as a nation, through some tough times.

    P.S. My t-shirt size is small. I like a tight fit to show off my muscles.

24. Jennifred
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:50 am

    Looks to me like a grocery price gun, except OLD skool. You could hit a stamp pad and then quickly hit the item you were pricing. If it's as old as it looks, it didn't need to go higher than 99 cents. I seem to remember my grandmother saying something about a loaf of bread and a basket of eggs only costing a quarter, or something.

25. jimmyhoffascorpse
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:54 am

    don't know if somebody else said this but a thing to mark numbers on letterboxes or doors in nieghbourhoods. i read stamping thing going down but i thought i'd be more specific.

26. Jim A.
    June 5th, 2008 at 9:57 am

    I'm going with the lumber marker explanation. I'm guessing that you would roll this along the end of a squared off log. then when you cut it into boards, they're sequentially numbered. This is important in fine woodworking so that you can match the grain by using sequential boards with alternate side up. As if you've unfolded the tree accordian-fold style.

27. natalie
    June 5th, 2008 at 10:04 am

    it's a pricing gun/shoe horn combo, for the convenience of all the shoe makers of the early 20th century.

28. Sammy
    June 5th, 2008 at 10:44 am

    Well, this may be splitting hairs with those who said it was a lumber stamp, but I say it's a timber stamp.

    The difference is that the stamp is used not at the sawmill, but in the actual logging operation in the woods to mark the ends of logs with a numerical representation as to where in the forest they came from and thereby who owns it. That way the Forest Service or the sawmill knows of the log has been stolen.

    That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

29. a
    June 5th, 2008 at 10:54 am

    an antique plunger?

30. Joe H
    June 5th, 2008 at 11:23 am

    It's a hammer from Count Von Count's tool chest.

31. Hp
    June 5th, 2008 at 11:47 am

    I think it's for dating meat or stamping it like the FDA does, like in a factory.

32. JC
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:08 pm

    It is a document numbering tool.

33. jmp478
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

    It's a poorly designed toilet plunger.

34. Snappy
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:20 pm

    It's a stump for a one-legged kid playing little league with adjustable player number. (Ducks)

35. JeepMcMuddy
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

    Its part of an old gas pump. Back when only 2 digits were needed. Sigh....

36. Stolen Name
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm

    Banana numberer

37. Loren Overby
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

    It's a stamp used for telephone poles

38. distortdd
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pm

    wax stamp?

39. Caity
    June 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    is it something to brand animals with? Or count chickens eggs with?

40. Cori
    June 5th, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    Steampunk librarian's date stamp. It was developed at the dawn of time, and became obsolete when the 99th day passed. They're really rare now, especially in such good condition. Usually, in the millenia since, they've acquired a good bit of damage or were incorporated into the technologies others have listed on this page.

41. stiggy
    June 5th, 2008 at 1:42 pm

    a pre-Y2K year marking hammer.

42. SteveH
    June 5th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    I believe that it is a stamp for numbering the end of logs for the timber industry

43. sam d
    June 5th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    it's a date stamper..

44. Hunter
    June 5th, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    Its a falafel maker

45. Randall
    June 6th, 2008 at 7:13 am

    Its the key to my time machine, where did youu find it?

46. Hayde
    June 6th, 2008 at 10:19 am

    It is a tool used by angry school teachers during the early 1900s to grade tests. It didn't have enough dials for a 100%, which lowered students' self esteem, thereby contributing to Russia's lead in the 'space race.'

47. Alex
    June 6th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    Congrats to Paul D. who got it right!

48. Paul D.
    June 7th, 2008 at 5:35 am

    WOO HOO! I've had the answers to others before but was always too late. Neatorama has incredible t-shirt designs too.

49. St Piotrowski
    January 22nd, 2009 at 7:31 am

    the marking of the logs of wood in the forest

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT