What Is It? game 188

It is once again time for our collaboration with the always amusing What Is It? Blog! Do you know what this object is?

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many as you'd like. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will each win a T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, okay? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

Check out the What Is It? Blog for more clues, and more mystery items. Good luck!

Update: The thing in the picture this week is a portable hand pump fog horn for use on a boat. Berhard guessed it correctly in the very first comment. Then iago guessed it to be the ultimate size pepper grinder for an Italian restaurant! That was good enough to win the funniest answer prize. Both win t-shirts from the Neatoshop!

Comments (71)

Newest 5

Newest 5 Comments

Fire bucket that held sand. Always found them hanging on hooks near oil burners. Round bottom made them impractical for any other use.

Resistance begins at Ohm XL

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It is a lantern of sorts. A container of water is kept at the top, and allows water to drip down, at a chosen rate using the handle, onto Calcium Carbide, thus creating acetylene for light.

Equal Opportunity Annoyer, Dark Grey, XL

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This was an old special effects gadget from vaudeville days. Yuu put dry ice in it and pump it to fill the stage with "smoke". It was called a "pot smoker".
Most theaters found it cheaper to just let jazz musicians hang around back stage.