Have you ever come across something really random or strange, and just had no idea what it could be? Well, these people have, and they did what any reasonable person would do in this day in age: they asked strangers on the internet about them.
While most of these mysterious objects in this list ended up being pretty normal, some of them are actually quite surprising. Find out for yourself!
As mysterious as this thing is, it's probably not actually that strange.
Reddit user softhacklestacker offered a guess that seems to be about right: "it was a processed and fired piece of marl clay as a quality test. Hence the markings for a batch number... suggest you take to Elk Rapids historical museum for confirmation."
This blade can be anything. But it's apparently a center setting gauge and grinding tool. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but it seems to be a blade used to set thread cutting tools. I'm sure this is incredibly useful to someone out there, even if it doesn't for most of us.
Reddit was pretty sure about this one. It's a betel nut box which is a box that was once used to store tobacco and its related products. I don't think boxes like these are really used anymore, or at least, they aren't used around here. At least they're pretty.
This one isn't so weird after all. In fact, it's actually kind of nice.
The cards in the box are reading aides for kids with learning disabilities. It's to help kids understand how the pieces work. It's really nice to see things that are accessible, even when they're old toys like this.
The person who originally posted the picture, Redditor Walterthefartingdog2, actually found the answer to this one: "it appears these are mostly used for saddles. Makes sense, was on a farm in ND and we believe around 75 years old or older."
So these are saddle tools. That's another one for the books.
From the looks of it, this is an antique nested trocar. A nested trocar is a surgical tool which is used to drain fluids from organs like the gallbladder. It's unclear how this person ended up with a nested trocar, but at least it would make a really cool collector's item.
This strange little piece of equipment is an automotive voltage regulator, most likely for a vintage car. Automotive voltage regulators keep car batteries from burning out as energy is used, so they're kind of important. At least, for vintage cars. I don't know if modern vehicles use those things anymore.
There's no mystery to be found here. This skinny little tube is nothing more than a sink drain rod. The thin disk part on the one end is the part that shows in the bowl, and the rest of it goes down the drain to keep it all in place. Simple stuff.
This is another item that isn't nearly as mysterious as it seems. Reddit user MrRonObvious gave a pretty solid explanation. "My guess would be a piece of hollow quartz that surrounded a heating element. They always tend to be that sort of translucent clear color." As it turns out, that's exactly what it is.
The person who originally posted this pic to Reddit ended up finding the answer after talking to their neighbors.
"Texted the son of the ranch owner who lives 4 miles North of where I found it. He said it is a “cattle rubber”. I guess they rub on it when flies are bothering them." Seems simple enough.
The consensus is that this is some kind of telescope. Reddit user synthetic-chem-nerd offered a pretty good explanation.
"This is most likely a transit scope. Back in the day, there wasn’t internet to sync clocks, yet in order to do precise astronomy, you needed to know precisely what the local time was. In order to precisely sync the observatory’s clocks, a transit scope was used."
This thing just so happens to be some kind of antique perfume atomizer. That's a fancy word for a perfume bottle, but not the bottle the stuff comes in. These help you spray a fine mist of perfume, rather than giant droplets. If you wear a lot of scents, you probably know what I'm talking about.
As weird as it looks, it's something we've probably all seen before. The keychain is made to look like a stockless anchor. It's literally as simple as that.
It's kind of disappointing, though. Not the keychain, the fact that there's no greater mystery to be seen here. But I guess they can't all be super obscure things.
You know what Pennsylvania has (among plenty of other states, and, like, most of Canada)? Sugar maple trees. And you know what comes from sugar maples? Maple syrup. These tubes are used as part of the tapping process, and are pretty common to come by. They may not look pretty, but they give us the goods.
Reddit was very adamant on this one. It's nothing more than an old TV antenna (so no, not a lightning rod). I guess before satellite and fiber optic cable, people used to have these outside of their houses? Weird.
But at least, from the looks of it, it would be safe to take down.
This little meter is kind of technical. And for most of us, it's probably a bit hard to understand. LovepeaceandStarTrek gives a pretty decent explanation of it, though, saying that "It tells technicians/engineers where the rail should be. If the rail moved then they move it back to the position marked on the sign." So, it's that.
Don't worry, this isn't as sinister as it may appear. The holes are just places where they took concrete/asphalt samples. Apparently, it's pretty common to do this, mostly to gauge the thickness of the concrete. When all is said and done, these strange little holes aren't really worth worrying about.
I've never seen one of these in action before, but it's apparently a paddle used to hold beer bottles or wine glasses. I guess if you have a large party at a bar or restaurant and you need to bring them their drinks at once, this would make it a lot easier.
It's kind of surprising how many of these mysterious objects end up being surgical devices. Like, more than you'd expect, considering how specific each one of them is. This particular piece is called a Senn retractor, and it's mainly used in hand and foot surgeries. I guess if you're a surgeon, it'll be pretty useful.
So. Uhh, this particular set of bars is for swings. The comments on this Reddit page seem to think that it's for... how should I put it. Adult oriented swings? I'm not going to ask anymore questions. I don't need to know how or why this person has them, and I won't judge.
