Something a little different for today's collaboration with What is it? blog - it's a true "what the heck is it?" meaning we don't know what the doodad pictured above is for!
This device has been sitting on someone's mantle for years, and if you know what it is for (with proof - article, patent no. or photo of it in use), then you'll win a free shirt from Neatorama's online shop! If no one gets it right, then funniest/most creative entry will win instead.
Contest rules are simple: Enter your guess in the comment area, one guess per comment, please but you can enter as many as you can think of. We usually discourage URLs, but for this game, we actually encourage it (you'll need to link to the proof anyhow). First one to tell us what it is for wins the shirt, or if nobody does, then the funniest guess gets it. Good luck!
Update 7/6/08 - since no one gave convincing proof, the funniest guess wins it. Congrats to Fuzz, who came up with "Flux Capacitor v1.0"
V 1.0 of the Flux Capacitor!!!
A Pressure Sensitive Switch?
Place the testicles in the two gaps, then slam your palms against the sides.
Viola! Eunuch.
---Big Booty
LOL! I do think that you are correct and no home should be without one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumbscrew
Although a mammogram device is about the same, as Jan points out.
She was revealed to be a humbug when it was proven that the Asymatic Muromather was actually a simple capacitor and when enough human being touched the brass leads on either side, while holding hands, it would collect enough static charge to display a bluish glow.
Madame Urz was arrested for fraud but escaped her capture by assumming avian form and flying away.
the scope for a world war one cannon? :)
"Galvaniscope" is what comes to mind. It was used to detect the presence of an electrostatic field.
The two gold-leaves repel each other in the presence of a field.
A vacuum was formed by sucking all the air out from the tube at the top. An inert gas was pumped in, electrical current was introduced by the two electrodes on the sides. The flat plates inside the device would glow, creating light.
"Electroscope"
http://www.tutorvista.com/content/physics/physics-i/static-electric-current/gold-leaf-electroscope.php
http://www.plasma-world.com/frontpage.html
"Flux Capacitor V. 1.0" LOL!
http://chem.ch.huji.ac.il/instruments/archaic/electroscopes.html
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Gold_leaf_electroscope_with_ground_strips.png
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/static_detection.htm
Maybe it was Tesla's?
i think it could be a door bell or a buzzer
if the bar in the middle pivots {looks like it might]
running an ac curent through the electrodes might make it swing and ring the bell like thingy on the top.
if the ends of the bar were wrapped in wire id say thats what it was but no wire.
hmm maybe a soleniod