Time to play: "What's This?"
Old tools, machinery, gadgets of all kinds - they've been discovered in barns, cattleyards, and forgotten hidey holes on your farms. We want to know what they are and how they were used, and we need your help!
Our next What’s This? item from George and Judy Nygren of Ashland, Nebraska is a large pipe.
According to the Nygrens, this pipe has six pieces of steel and six bolts. The level is 28 inches long while the pipe itself is only 16 inches long.
Based on their observations, the entire device is handcrafted and setup for an obvious job we are all unaware of.
With only one guess last week, I’m sure readers can do their best to figure this one out!
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, Aug. 9, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Aug. 14 issue.
The second item from the George and Judy Nygren saga was guessed upon by only one reader over the last few weeks.
Jim Merrit out of Norfolk guessed that the item pictured is a leather cutter.
While the shape and size do seem to fit the idea of the blade being a leather cutter, there is some question as to why it’s rounded on the sides.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Our next What’s This item is another that comes from George and Judy Nygren of Ashland, Nebraska.
The small roller is approximately 9 inches long with a 2 and 3/4 inch diameter wheel. The handle is wood and has no discernible markings on it.
The wheel appears to be bladed down the middle, indicating it was using for cutting of some sort.
I’m sure we can help out the Nygren’s again.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, July 26, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the July 31 issue.
The first of the Nygren items was identified by more than one reader.
Dietrich Schweers of Ponca was the first to correctly guess its use.
Robert Kratky of Dakota City gave more details, explaining that the hook went on a tractor while the two eyelets were connected to a wooden board. Then two sections of the harrow connected to each side of the board.
If you have any items laying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
George and Judy Nygren of Ashland, Nebraska have four items that need identifying over the next eight weeks.
The first, which is 30 inches long and has two spiral hooks with nine chain links is one of a few mysteries the Nygrens have.
George farmed and made toy tractor parts for a living but is having trouble identifying this piece.
He said they are hand-forged and welded — if it’s any help.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, July 12, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the July 17 issue.
After a few weeks of guessing, only two responses were submitted from the readers.
Larry Martin from Valparaiso suggested that the mystery device could be an elevator chair from a single-row corn picker, while Justin Ramsay guessed that the device may be an early form of barbed wire.
While the guesses can continue, the mystery remains.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Dave Fullner of Wisner, Nebraska has a new challenge for What’s This enthusiasts.
While Dave has no personal clue as to what this device is, he said he is almost positive is not a corn dryer, despite what people have tried to tell him.
Dave said as a retired farmer, he’s collected a lot of scrap metal but he cannot place what this device is.
Can we help him out?
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, June 28, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the July 3 issue.
The knife submitted by Larry and Joyce Frazier is a frozen food knife.
Wanda Moores of Woodbine, Iowa was the first to correctly guess. Thanks to the half dozen that also correctly guessed.
According to Frank Shefl of O’Neill, Nebraska, the knife came out shortly after frozen foods became popular in the late 1940s, early 1950s.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Larry and Joyce Frazier from Jefferson, Iowa submitted this knife after asking all around town as to its purpose.
The knife, while it looks like a standard bread knife, has four large divots in it that have thrown off those who’ve seen the picture.
The Fraziers are hoping a reader can help them correctly identify both its purpose and what those special cutouts are used for that make the knife look so unique.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, June 14, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the June 19 issue.
Several readers have helped identify the tool as a “kettle” of sorts for curing meat and making lard.
Jess Bandy out in Oshkosh, Nebraska was the first to guess that the pot could be used to scald pigs and scrape off hair.
Ronald Brandl and Eugene Glock followed up with examples of how the device would also be used to make a variety of things such as soap and lard.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to the Midwest Messenger. Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Carolyn Kappel of Miller, Nebraska has submitted this bowl for readers to guess at its purpose.
She said that the bowl is at least 150 pounds of iron and was found a good half mile in the middle of hilly farmland.
There is also a post with a pulley system that she believes was used to lift this massive bowl, but she is unsure as to why the bowl has cogs on the bottom as if it was used as a grinder.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, May 31, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the June 5 issue of Midwest Messenger.
The toy that Marie sent in is an electric motor. Thanks to all that guessed correctly.
Rod Snow of Litchfield, Nebraska was the first to guess correctly, but Chris Epping of Funk described the motor as a toy that actually says Weeden on it, not Weeler.
Weeden toys in the early 20th century sold functional steam and electric motors for kids to experience.
If you have any items laying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Almost a year ago, Marie Benedix sent this in to be identified by our keen Midwest Messenger readers.
In a message that has been lost in time, Benedix said that the device is 4 inches wide and 9 and a half inches long with the name Weeler on it.
Hopefully, some of our readers can identify the tool and put Benedix’s mind at ease after a year of wondering what her in-laws’ device could be.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, May 17, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the May 22 issue.
It would appear that our unidentified tool is a meat tenderizer.
Marlin Perks of Stockville, Nebraska and Kermit Smith of Eustis, Nebraska both correctly identified the tool for Jeff Housh.
While the tool does not look like a modern day meat tenderizer, there have been several confirmations of what the tools purpose was in various online listings.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
This isn’t a fork, although what it could be is anyone’s guess.
Jeff Housh submitted this tool for our keen Midwest Messenger readers to guess.
Housh said he found it in a random bucket of stuff in an auction and has no idea what the tool could be or what it was used for.
How about it readers?
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, May 3, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the May 8 issue.
After two weeks, a two-person consensus was formed on the Brumbaugh’s tool.
Chris Epping of Funk, Nebraska was the first to guess that the tool is a Frankenstein of sorts and is actually two separate tools.
“The tool ... is a Sharples Cream separator. It looks like it may have been stripped of parts to be used as a base to mount a grinder.”
Thanks also to the Mickelsons, who guessed it was a split tool.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Our next tool is a rather large one found in Omaha, Nebraska. Curt Brumbaugh’s son brought the tool to his attention.
This is a true mystery as the Brumbaughs from Red Cloud, Nebraska have no idea what the tool may be.
It stands a bit taller than the bottom of a car and has a cone-shaped attachment.
If you have any ideas for what this tool is and how it was used, send them in. All guesses are welcome!
Send your responses by Sunday, April 19, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Friday, April 24 issue.
It seems that Wesley and Kenneth’s mystery was their own, as no guesses were made over the last two weeks.
The device pictured is a model to set up telephone poles. Kenneth was part of a local cooperative of neighbors that had to set up their own poles to get electricity.
“My dad built this model so that the guys would know how to string the wires,” Kenneth said.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net or mail them to our offices at Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Thanks!
A mix-up from our usual themes, Wesley Dirks out of Chappell, Nebraska has a neat mystery for readers to solve.
This device was in his dad, Kenneth’s, shop. While they both know what it is, the Dirks submitted this to see if any other rural readers know what this was used for and why they had to use something like this back in the earlier days of rural American life.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, April 5, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the April 10 issue.
There is a three part message in this issue:
1) The March 13 What’s This is has been identified as a grip to replace sickle sections a few at a time. Thanks to Jim Watson and Vaughn Beed for their quick guesses within 5 minutes of each other!
2) I’ve received several emails and letters regarding an old What’s This that was incorrectly identified. Keep in mind that these are just guesses, and this is supposed to be light and fun. If you’re writing in, please do so kindly or not at all.
3) John Rosman from Harlan, Iowa figured out what the Feb. 28 issue photo was. He attached a photo of what his father’s was and it appears to be a device to keep a shirt collar shapely.
If you have any items around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Returning to large pieces of equipment, Sid Suedmeier has submitted this for consideration.
He said: “I think this is blacksmithing related, but am not sure.” in his email to the Messenger.
After a brief stump on last issue’s picture, I’m sure Messenger readers can figure this one out.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, March 22, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the March 27 issue.
It’s always sad to see an image come and go without any guesses as to what it could be.
Unfortunately for George Albin, no Messenger readers submitted a guess other than Gael Jaeger, who wondered if the tool was a horse bit or surveyors tool.
Remember, we will take any guesses that come through your mind.
No guess is a bad one when it comes to trying to find the use of tools lying around the homestead.
If you have any items around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Shrinking down in size, this next tool is brought to us from George Albin in Hastings, Nebraska.
The took is small at just 3 inches wide and Albin said he has no idea what this tool is or what it’s used for — so there is a real mystery on our hands.
It was found in some old things Albin was going through on the homestead.
Working magic from nothing is what Messenger readers do best, right?
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, March 8, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the March. 13 issue.
It’s good to see a true mystery ran by the "What’s This" desk. The tool Leland Schlake submitted stumped many, prompting only a handful of responses, each one different.
John Glaser of Omaha, Nebraska, was the first to guess, assuming the device is a wagon hammer. It also goes by its other name, a wagon wheel wrench.
Other guesses included a cream separator wrench and a bung remover, but wagon wheel wrenches did look like this device so we are going to have to mark this one solved.
If you have any items lying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Leland Schlake of Cortland, Nebraska has brought Messenger readers this tool for their consideration.
Schlake, a resident of his pioneer farm for 83 years, said he has no idea what the tool is or what it is used for.
It is nearly 19 inches long with a horseshoe shape at the top and a spike at the bottom.
Can Messenger readers help out Schlake and identify this tool?
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, Feb. 23, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Feb. 28 issue.
The mystery of the half wrench has been solved by nearly all those who submitted guesses.
The tool was half of a monkey wrench.
Lori Focher of Bruno, Nebraska was the first to guess correctly.
Elmer Reetz of Crete, Nebraska, submitted this image of what the wrench is supposed to look like with all of its parts.
If you have any items laying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Eugene Glock of Rising City, Nebraska has submitted this tool for reader’s consideration.
He said he has no idea what it may be but knows it’s a hammer.
Glock, 87, has submitted several items in the past and readers have always been able to help him out.
It’s time to work that What’s This magic for Glock and his family to identify the special use this hammer may have once had on the farm.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, Feb. 9, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Feb. 14 issue.
Two mysteries have been solved this issue as the item was correctly identified as a blow torch but Bob also has restored his last name — thank you to Bob Rikli of Murdock, Nebraska.
Russ Crawford of Exira, Iowa was the first to correctly guess the device and above is Denny McKay’s instructions on how the device was used in its heyday.
Also, several readers correctly pointed out that the picture was rotated 90 degrees on accident.
If you have any items laying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
This next tool isn’t a tool at all as much as an entire machine.
A reader named Bob submitted this — and unfortunately his last name was cut off in submission.
Can Midwest Messenger readers work their magic once again?
Bob wrote: “I have a guess as to what it is, Do you know?”
That’s a challenge if I’ve ever heard one for our readers, and I’m sure we can live up to it!
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Sunday, Jan. 26, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Jan. 31 issue.
After an issue that stumped our readers, Messenger fans have come through for Gary Ladenburger.
The tool was, in fact, a hoof trimmer.
Eugene Glock was the first to guess with over 30 submissions correctly identifying the tool.
Several readers guessed that the tool could be used for cattle dehorning, but that is not the case.
If you have any items laying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net.
Thanks!
This newest What’s This tool was submitted by Gary Ladenburger of North Bend, Nebraska.
Ladenburger farms in Morse Bluff, and said he’s seen this item as long as he can remember just sitting in his barn. To his knowledge, it’s never been used.
It’s a grip of some kind, but to what its true purpose is, hopefully the keen eyes of the Midwest Messenger readers can let us know.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Jan. 13, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Jan. 17 issue.
With an extended time to guess, unfortunately no readers submitted their responses as to what the tools in the Dec. 6 issue were.
With the holidays, personal vacations, family time and kids returning home from college, I’m sure we were all just a bit too busy.
After this week, there is only 11 What’s This submissions in the queue waiting to be used.
If you have any items laying around the farm and have been curious as to what they are, be sure to submit them with a bit of information about yourself and the item to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Thanks!
This tool may be something that many of our readers will be able to identify.
Submitted on behalf of Fritz Loseke’s 90th birthday in May, this tool has been on his operation for dozens of years and he’s never been able to correctly identify it.
“So we were hoping that you could help us out,” Flavel Heyman said on behalf of Loseke.
I’m sure the folks over in our neck of the woods can figure this mystery out.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Dec. 16, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Dec. 20 issue.
Even with the broken handle, our keen readers figured it out. This was, in fact, an ice harvesting tool.
While we got some suggestions guessing that it was used in logging, about five of you guessed correctly that this tool should have a 14-foot-handle and be used for ice harvesting.
Bill Jameson of Nehawka, Nebraska was the first to guess correctly with Stanley Shavlik and Kris Irlbeck right behind.
Ron Blaser figured what out what it was as well right after submitting.
Be sure to keep the responses coming every issue, even if it’s just a guess.
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
This next device is roughly a foot long and has a rusted metal spike at the end.
Ron Blaser of Columbus, Nebraska submitted this but followed up later correctly identifying the use.
But before you find out, we need our readers to guess as to what this rusted pick was used for in its hay day.
Blaser said there are no identifying marks on the tool and nothing to indicate it’s use other than Midwestern recollection.
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Dec. 2, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Dec. 6 issue.
The mystery of the horse shoe/clip has been solved by reader Steve Renz of Superior, Nebraska.
The 61-year-old reader from Nebraska correctly identified the small device as Derby Cuff Clip.
“(It was) used to hold a cheaters card up the gamblers shirt sleeve. The horse shoe was the cuff link and the card was held by clip hidden from view of opponent,” Renz said.
Some readers incorrectly assumed the clip was used on horses, but several antique professionals – as well as a good Google search – have confirmed that the device was a cuff clip.
This next device is considerably smaller and lighter than the previous issue, but it’s a mystery nonetheless.
Larry and Julene Karloff out of Yutan, Nebraska said that this little device has been given the nickname “The Derby” but they have no
idea what it’s intended purpose is.
“It has a small clamp on one end and is a little less than 3 inches long. Please help!”
I think we can help the Karloffs out, don’t you?
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Nov. 18, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Nov. 22 issue.
Well, obviously we made it too easy for our readers last issue.
Yes, this device posted was a vice. And yes, the picture was posted upside down as many of you pointed out.
Over the last two weeks, exactly 71 responses have come in describing the device and there isn’t enough space in the paper to record all the names.
Essentially it is just a simple bench vice that would attach to the leg and the backside and hold it steady.
Now, if only we could get 71 responses on every single What’s This submission and then we could really rocket through some mysteries!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Rennea Jensen-Brown submitted this device for our readers. She said her husbands family has been living on the operation for 153 years and still has no idea what this device is.
It is 2 and a half feet long and “very heavy” according to Jensen-Brown.
“(We have) several generations of ‘stuff’ has been left for us to ‘deal’ with... I have no idea what it is,” Jensen-Brown said.
Work your magic Messenger readers!
“What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Nov. 4, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Nov. 8 issue.
Our keen readers did it again – this device is an oil drum wrench.
Tracey Hefner out of Archer, Nebraska, Alvin Depe out of Colby, Kansas, and Gary Krings out of Greenwood, Nebraska all guessed correctly.
The device is used to open and close the cap but more specifically, Depe wrote that: “The large end has prongs that hook into the large bung to loosen or tighten it; the small end has a slot that grips across the small vent bung.”
If you have any old items laying around, submit them to see if our readers can identify them to satisfy your life long curiosity.
This one has a hint of this reporters past as Ben Cowling out of Roca, Neb. submitted this device with the words Tri-Sure New York printed on one side.
This device is still used today in some cases and Crowling does know what it is for those who are are stumped.
This device is apt for Crowling who signs off his email with the tag line “Ol’ Texas Ben.”
Do you have any clue how they’re connected?
Readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Sept. 23, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Oct. 25 issue.
The last two weeks came and went and our fearless readers unfortunately did not come up with a solution to Dean West’s problem.
After contacting several historical societies, the best guess is that the device is incomplete and missing a few pieces to correctly identify it.
On a similar note, we are running out of submissions for What’s This so please submit photos of things around the farm that you’re curious about!
Thanks for everything!
If you have a device that you think would stump our readers, be sure to send it and and thanks for all the responses as always!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061
Our next device has gotten question marks written all over it.
Submitted by Dean West of Mapleton, Kansas, this device appears to have an eagle on the globe but aside from that, nothing else is known.
Dean wrote: “There is not a tractor, combine or crawler I have not operated but I have no idea what this is. Please help?”
The hawk eyes that read the Messenger surely have a clue to help 83-year-old West out, right?
Readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Sept. 23, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Sept. 27 issue.
The Sept. 13 image didn’t stump any of our keen readers, as the device is in fact called a Dibble.
The little hand-held device was used to plant seeds for starter plants and vegetables.
Craig Smith, Steve Renz and Paul Orr all correctly named the device.
Orr said a family across the way still uses them in their home garden.
Something like the dibble has been used since Roman times and has largely remained unchanged since then.
If you have a device that you think would stump our readers, be sure to send it our way. Thanks for all the responses, as always!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
A device with a funny name and a unique purpose highlights this round’s “What’s This.”
Sent to us from Marlin Perks of Stockville, Nebraska, the device is 10 and a half inches long and apparently is no longer in use at most farms which should make it a unique challenge for our always inquisitive readers.
The last hint is that this device has been replaced over the years by many things, including simply a farmers own hands and basic tools.
Readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Monday, Sept. 23, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at Midwest Messenger, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Sept. 27 issue.
This past issue’s What’s This has drawn a great deal of back and forth. Yes, the device is an auger. But, the readers were divided on whether or not the auger was used to drill holes for blasting logs apart, or for some other purpose.
Based on Glen Schweppe’s description of the device, Ronald Blaser of Columbus, Nebraska correctly guessed that the auger was used to drill holes in corner and brace posts so that wire could be placed in an opposite direction to hold the brace in place.
Thanks everyone for the responses and keep them coming each week!
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson,Midwest Messenger, P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
We are mixing it up this time around and giving you a device that every farmer should know very well.
This time, however, I’d like to know what exactly this marvelous digging tool was used for instead of just simply digging holes.
Glen Schweppe of Syracuse, Neb. submitted this with detailed accounts of the holes it drilled so ...
Readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Tuesday, Sept. 10, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at P.O. Box 239, Tekamah, NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Sept. 13 issue.
In a nice twist from the norm for “What’s This,” Roger Vech’s two piece rope pulling device has been correctly identified by three keen Lee Agri-Media readers.
Vech, a Verdigre, Neb. native, submitted the two part device wanting to know what it was used for but had a feeling ropes were used.
According to Joe Farquhar, George Albin and Marcy Hageman, the device is called a hay sling latch.
The sling was used to pull loose hay into the barn.
Albin wrote: “You pull the rope up in the haymow of the barn and get the heck out of the way.”
Thanks everybody!
In an interesting twist for What’s This, this next device actually isn’t one whole piece at all.
Roger Vech from Verdigre, Neb., submitted this photo which came from his son, who found it at an old building site.
Vech wrote that the loop between the springs can actually slide to the middle and separate the piece in two.
Vech has his own guesses as to what this device is but...
Readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Friday, Aug. 23, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Aug. 30 issue.
This image was a long shot from the beginning and unfortunately no one could quite place what the device was used for.
Ray Maciejewski of Vesper, Wis. admitted as such when he said the device came from a landfill 50 years ago.
After reaching out to the South Dakota State Historical Society, Katy Schmidt, the curator of collections, seems inclined to believe that it is a hand-cranked mill or grinder.
Although she said it’s hard to tell from just photographs, she said it may be missing a stone to make the device complete.
That would explain why it was in the trash.
This next photo is truly a mystery as submitter Ray Maciejewski of Vesper, Wis., also has no idea what the device is.
Maciejewski said that he found the device in the town of Richfield over 50 years ago. For added effect, he also mentioned that it came from Richfield’s landfill, so clearly its use even 50 years ago had worn out.
So, readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Friday, Aug. 9, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Aug. 16 issue.
Perhaps this one stumped you all more than you’d care to admit.
This metal circle with two green handles was a milk pail holder, according to Gloria Palmer who submitted the photo.
You’d place the bucket in the circle and then place on it’s legs — the handles were for advertising.
Only one reader took a swing at what the metal contraption was — Ronald Blaser.
Blaser wrote that he thought it could be some sort of screening device for the headlight of a car. I see no reason why you couldn’t put this over the light.
Another mystery is at hand here at the newspaper office.
This time, it comes from Gloria Palmer all the way up in Madison, Wis. Gloria found this contraption at a farm in Menomonie, Wis., and has a vague idea of what the device may be, it is up to the Midwest Messenger readers to figure out how this metal circle with two handles was used.
So, readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Friday, July 26, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the Aug. 2 issue.
Gary Brown didn’t have to wait too long for a response as a staggering 12 readers wrote in via email and written mail to say this device is a buttonhook.
An old fashion buttonhook, according to 87-year-old Violet Puole from Murdock, Neb., was simply used to pull pearl shaped buttons throw the opening on old shoes.
The tool was also referred to as a hook and eye tool according to Columbus, Neb. reader Ronald Blaser.
Almost all the responses suggested this tool was used primarily for ladies shoes but Blaser said it was a common household item and could be used for kids shoes, as well.
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105.
Gary Brown from Oxford, Neb. contributed this contraption for “What’s This?”
At it’s widest point, the hook is just 1 inch wide and overall, it sits at about 4.5 inches long.
Tina Brown, Brown’s daughter-in-law, was asked to submit it and said that Gary knows its intended purpose.
It clearly is designed to hook onto something, but what is the end for?
So, readers, “What’s This?” and why does it work the way it does?
Send your responses by Friday, July 12, to Jager Robinson via email at Jager.Robinson@lee.net or through the postal service at Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105.
Be sure to include your hometown, name and age in your responses. Responses will run in the July 19 issue.
Thanks to two keen readers who submitted their answers via the mail, we have a better guess as to what Stan Shavlik’s iron rod really is.
Both Dennis McKay of Spalding, Neb., and Ronald Blaser of Columbus, Neb. guessed correctly that the piece held in Stan’s hand is, in fact, the step to get into an old-time buggy.
The elongated piece of metal would bolt into the side of the buggy, and the end resting in Stan’s palm would have a cushion fastened to it.
Stan didn’t say how he came across this piece of metal, but for the 89-year-old retired farmer, it is just one of the things lying around the homestead.
Send your “What’s This” submissions to jager.robinson@lee.net or Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105.
Stan Shavlik has had this mystery piece for a long time on his farm east of Linwood, Neb.
You can see from how it sets in the 89-year-old retired farmer’s hand that it might be 10 to 12 inches in length. It bends from the horizontal rod up at about a 90 degree angle.
The vertical part has a round hole at the top and a cross piece with two square holes.
If you think those three holes were used to attach the piece to something else, that might be the right track. Stan also had a feeling that there was something missing, maybe on the rod.
This item is most likely more than 100 years old, but it had some usefulness for at least a few decades.
So, Stan asks, “What’s this?”
Do you know what it is? Got an idea? Or a guess?
Send your responses so they are received by June 28 to: jager.robinson@lee.net.
Or mail them to: Jager Robinson, Tri-State Neighbor, 309 W. 43rd St., Sioux Falls, S.D. 57105
Replies will be in the July 5 edition of Midwest Messenger.
The most recent What’s This picture seemed to fool our readers again as no submissions were sent in guessing what the pronged metal contraption was used for.
Gloria Palmer from Madison, Wis., who sent in the image, said it is a cow tail holder.
“When you squeeze the two handles at the bottom both ends open up. The pear-shaped end surrounds the cow’s leg and the pincher looking end holds the cow tail switch. Release handle and both ends closed and now the tail is being held to the leg,” Palmer wrote in her email.
While modern-day cow tail holders look a tad more economical, Palmer said the contraption was good enough to stop dirty tails from whipping you in the face.
Gloria Palmer from Madison, Wis., contributed this issue’s “What’s This?”
Found at the farm in Menomonie, Wis., the metal object is 11 inches long and 4.5 inches wide. Squeeze the two handles at the bottom and both ends open, and likewise release the handles and the ends close.
But why? Is there some reason the pear-shaped end on the left opens? Is it grabbing something? And on the right end, the pinchers open, apparently to grasp onto something. But what?
So, “What’s This?” And why does it do what it does?
Send your responses by Friday, June 14, to terry.anderson@lee.net or Terry Anderson, News Editor, Midwest Messenger, Box 239, Tekamah NE 68061.
Be sure to include your hometown. Your responses will run in our June 21 editions.
The most recent “What’s This?” clue pictured a hook with a tiny hook on its end. It was submitted by Bev Smedra of Ord, Neb., who said the item was found on the farm but no one knows what it is.
“We thought of a bale hook, but it is more rounded curve than a bale hook, plus the little hook on the end,” she said. “The hole for the handle is much smaller than a bale hook handle or even a garden hoe handle. More the size of a broom handle diameter.”
This seems to have fooled most of our readers, since we didn’t receive many responses. In fact, every response went a different direction.
Leon Cederlind of Murphy, Neb., said it was used when fishing.
Darrell Rubottom, Woodston, Kan., wrote, “It seems as if we used something like this to sew the tops of gunnysacks which we filled with oats. Same such tool was also used to patch holes in the gunnysacks. You could use store-bought string or binder twine.”
Jim Standerford, Humboldt, Neb., told us, “I think the item is a tool used in butchering hogs or beef. The person working up the carcasses would hook a slab of meat, throw it over his shoulder and carry it to another table to cut it up.”
So, we may still have a mystery.
The backlog of photo clues we have in hand could take the rest of the year to get published, but don’t let that stop you from sending in more of those mysteries from the farm. Send as much information as you can, including what the object is made of and any dimensions. An object in a two-dimensional photo can be deceiving.
Send your submissions to editorial@midwestmessenger.com or Editor, Midwest Messenger, Box 239, Tekamah NE 68061.
Bev Smedra of Ord, Neb., said this edition’s clue was found on the farm but no one knows what it is.
There’s a little hook on the end of the larger hook, which would be odd for a bale hook. And the big hook may not be open enough to work well on a small bale. It looks like it’s designed for a round handle to slide on the end but it is smaller than a spade handle.
“We thought of a bale hook, but it is more rounded curve than a bale hook, plus the little hook on the end,” she said. “The hole for the handle is much smaller than a bale hook handle or even a garden hoe handle. More the size of a broom handle diameter.”
So, readers, the question is: “What’s This?”
Send your responses, ideas, even guesses by Friday, May 31, and we’ll share them in our June 7 issue. Send them to terry.anderson@lee.net or Terry Anderson, News Editor, Midwest Messenger, Box 239, Tekamah NE 68061.
The Steamboat Bertrand was en route from St. Louis to the newly discovered goldfields in Montana when it struck a submerged log on April 1, 1865, and sank 30 feet into the muddy Missouri River north of Omaha.
The wreckage was found in 1968 on DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge and excavated the following year. What was recovered has been on permanent exhibition at DeSoto. Not far from DeSoto, Jim Goodman farms and uncovered four oblong, heavy objects with a track hoe under about three feet of mud in an old river bed on the Missouri River bottoms.
Each is 12 inches tall and has a 5-inch diameter. They are made of cast iron and weigh about 20 pounds each. The bottle shaped objects have a groove on the top with a half-inch hole perpendicular to the slot. This would allow them to be pinned to a rod and easily mounted and positioned.
One of these weights was on display at DeSoto, but no one could identify what it was used for.
Because they were excavated from an old Missouri River channel, there is speculation that they may have been weights used to balance loads on a river boat.
Their heft was clearly a key element for their use. Growing up, the windows in our early 20th century farmhouse were kept in place by similarly designed weights that hung inside the walls. We didn’t receive many responses, but those that did come in connected with the weight balancing purpose.
Melvin Sporrer and the Bunkhouse Gang in Logan, Iowa, thought the weights were used to offset raising the sail on a ship.
Jerry Morgenstern of Hoisington, Kan., suggested the weights could have been hanging in a water well.
They are Fairbanks and Co., scale weights, says Leslie Krings of Greenwood, Neb. The Bertrand would dock and local trading posts and merchantiles used the device to weigh their trading goods, to be put on the Bertrand and taken to larger cities along the Missouri River.
Jim Goodman farms northwest of Crescent, Iowa, and wonders what he found.
Four of these objects were uncovered by a track hoe under about three feet of mud in an old river bed on the Missouri River bottoms. Each is 12 inches tall and has a 5-inch diameter. They are made of cast iron and each weigh about 20 pounds. The bottle shaped objects have a groove on the top with a half-inch hole perpendicular to the slot.
The steamboat Bertrand, carrying cargo up the Missouri River to Virginia City, Mont., Territory, sank on April 1, 1865, after hitting a snag in the river north of Omaha, Neb. Half of its cargo was recovered 100 years later. Today, the artifacts are displayed in a museum at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge between Missouri Valley, Iowa, and Blair, Neb.
One of these weights was on display at DeSoto, but no one could identify what it was used for. Could it be part of the cargo on the Bertrand?
So, Jim Goodman asks: What’s This? Do you know if these objects had a specific function? Any ideas?
Send your responses, with name and hometown, to terry.anderson@lee.net.
Cook stove lid lifter
Allan Gustin, a North Dakota rancher, has an old tool that his daughter bought for him but he doesn’t know much about it at all.
“It’s 12 inches long and is embossed with the name C-B-DALE,” he said. “She bought it in New York State, so it may be for an implement that is not agricultural, or not used in the upper Great Plains.”
So, he and we ask, “What’s This?”
An Internet check may have helped with the “C-B-Dale” clue. The company made coal and cook stoves.
That may have helped some readers, as seen in the responses below.
Cook stove handle to remove lids on top of kitchen stove. Some had wooden handle. Others had metal circled ring in place of wood. Still have one similar. L. Duane Dudney, Hastings, Neb.
Lid lifter for an old-fashion cook stove. Leonard Carstensen, Odeboldt, Iowa.
I think the tool shown is a farrier’s tool. I believe it pulls the nails out of the horse-shoe, and helps pry up the old horseshoe for replacement. Leslie Krings, Greenwood, Neb.
I believe that the tool in question is a compass used for drawing circles, probably in a woodworking shop. Joe Olthafer, Belmont, Wis.
The old tool looks like a primitive wooden caliper for measuring. Nick Kolodziej, Mosinee, Wis.
Most of the time, when we get a submission for “What’s This?” there’s a good description of what the item is. Once in a while, there’s nothing. Those are times we hope our readers have a good handle on whatever is shown.
The most recent item featured in “What’s This?” didn’t give us a lot to go on. Leland Schlake of Cortland, Neb., sent a photo of a tool that he found on his farm, buried in dirt. About all he remembered was his dad using it to tightened the lugs on the wheels of box wagons.
We had lots of readers who agreed. Some even added a bit more information.
“This is a wrench to tighten the axle nuts on wooden wagon wheels” wrote Randy Irlbeck of Dedham, Iowa. “After the wooden wagon wheels were gone a lot of these were used for hitch pins when the tractor came along.”
“This item slightly bent has a twofold use. It appears to be a lynch pin whereby the evener is attached to the tongue of the horse wagon towed machine,” wrote Darrell Kaminski of Loup City, Neb. “The rectangular end serves as a tool to remove the lug nut from the axle of a farm equipment, e.g. wagon hay raking etc. … to lubricate with axle grease. It was unique in early pioneer days when traveling on the new frontier where utilitarian items often served multiple uses in an attempt to conserve space, weight, etc. on the long journey west.”
Added Tom Dickey of Albion, Neb., “The photo of the tool is a wagon hammer. It was an all-around tool sold with wagons.”
Other responses:
Your object is a lug wrench for an old wagon that had either steel-spoked or wooden-spoked wheels. A large nut approximately 2-3 inches wide held the wheel on the axle. This looks like a cheater bar was used on it a few times as the handle is bent. Russ Crawford, Exira, Iowa.
I did recognize the mystery object: a wagonhammer, a tool used by the covered wagons. I only know this because it is the brand for Jay Wolf’s Wagonhammer Ranch and he gave one for the building at the Gudmundson Research Center at Whitman. Ann K. Bruntz, Friend, Neb.
The threads were left handed on the left side of the running gear so the turning of the wheel did not loosen the nut when the wagon was being used. Ed Anderson, Ayr, Neb.
In the early days of Chrysler Corp., their vehicles also had left hand threaded studs on the left side to keep the wheels on the vehicle. It was not unusual when removing a wheel from the left side of such car to find a stud bolt twisted off because someone did not know that those studs were left-hand threaded and used some superduper wrench to try to accomplish the task. Gene Kulhanek, Howells, Neb.
My great-grandfather started using this around 1900 as his cattle brand, I still use it to this day. Our brand is just the u without the handle. Joe Moore, Gothenburg, Neb.
Every response we received included either the wrench to remove and replace the wagon wheel or used to fasten the doubletree to the tongue of a wagon. Many included both. We received responses from: Matt Harvey, Valentine, Neb.; Carl Domsch, Wakefield, Neb.; Larry Swanson, Colon, Neb.; Robert Connot, Valentine, Neb.; Kermit Smith, Eustis, Neb.; Maynard Mozer, Norfolk, Neb.; Mel Sporrer and the Bunkhouse Gang, Logan, Iowa; Bob Means, Breda, Iowa; Leonard Walde, Westside, Iowa; Gary Cooper, Fontanelle, Iowa; Ted Haverkamp, Verdigree, Neb.; Leonard Carson, Odebolt, Iowa; Oliver Horton, Stuart, Neb.; Douglas Mchenry, Aurora, Neb.; Dave Mandel, West Point, Neb.; Mark Pritchard, Spalding, Neb.; Kipp Haight, Bennet, Neb.; Roy Reinke, Columbus, Neb.; Dwight Phillips, Fremont, Neb.; David D. Bruntz, Friend Neb.; Gary Ladenburger, North Bend, Neb.; Larry DeBaets, Burwell, Neb.; Bill Mrla, Lawton, Iowa; Jess Bandy, Oshkosh Neb.; Neal Gaul, Earling, Iowa; Vern Dahlman, Pender, Neb.; Daryl Koperski, Boelus, Neb.; Don Smydra, Boelus, Neb.; Kermit Wilke, Wilcox, Neb.; James Meis, Elgin, Neb.; Dean Wilkerson, Coleridge, Neb.; Don Andersen, Ponca, Neb.; Rod Zohner, Battle Creek Neb.; Tom Stevens. Marquette, Neb.; Ken Widhalm, Dodge, Neb.; Eldon Hestermann, Eagle, Neb.; John Amdor DVM (ret.), Defiance, Iowa; Janis Gress, Nebraska City, Neb.; Joe Fryman, Blair, Neb.; Steve Wolverton, Madison, Neb.; Karl Jacobson, Concordia, Kan.; Don Anderson, Osceola, Neb.; Daniel Boellstorff, Brock, Neb.; Robert Campbell, Neola, Iowa; George Albin, Hastings, Neb.; Darwin Larson, Ansley, Neb.; Larry and Nancy Etmund, Martell, Neb.; Tony Vrana, Seward, Neb.; Fred Howard, Sargent, Neb.; Harold Thies, Lincoln, Neb.; Clay Meyer, Walthill, Neb.; Jackie Wedemeyer, Scottsbluff, Neb.
Allan Gustin is a Morton County rancher, located just west of Bismarck, N.D. He sent in a picture of an antique tool that his daughter bought for him.
“It’s 12 inches long and is embossed with the name C-B-DALE,” he said. “She bought it in New York State, so it may be for an implement that is not agricultural, or not used in the upper Great Plains.”
The two markers appear to be held in place by wooden wedges.
So, we ask, “What’s This?”
Any ideas? Is it a farm tool? A New York tool? What’s your best guess? Or do you know exactly what it is and how it’s used?
Send what you think it is to terry.anderson@lee.net. Be sure to include your name and hometown.
We’ll reveal the responses in our May 10 editions.
This edition’s mystery item was sent in by Leland Schlake of Cortland, Neb. It’s a tool that he found on his farm, buried in the dirt. He said he remembered his dad using it many years ago.
So, he asks, “What’s This?”
If you know, or want to make a guess, send your ideas to terry.anderson@lee.net. Be sure to include your name and hometown.
Jerry Morgenstern of Hoisington, Kan., sent the photo for the more recent “What’s This?”
“It is a calf weaner found in an abandoned farmstead,” he wrote with his submission. “Had to research it on the internet to identify it.”
Sometimes a calf is quite persistent and continues to nurse long after it should be weaned, he explained. “Rather than keeping the calf and its mother in separate pastures, a calf weaner could be attached to the calf’s nose. The weaner had sharp spikes sticking out from it that would cause the cow to kick the calf and keep it away.”
About the only difference among the responses was what the spikes irritated more: the cow or the calf. And it wasn’t always a calf.
Here are the responses:
This week ‘What’s This?’ could be a calf weaner known and used by dairymen the world over. It cures a calf’s sucking habit without injury. The chain or a strap would fasten it to a calf and little prongs would touch the calf head when trying to nurse. Mama cow would not like this either. Marlin Perks, Stockville, Neb.
I believe it is a “calf weaner” that you put on the calf’s head and then they can’t reach the teat and if they try, the cow is poked by the points and she’ll kick. Arnie Wulf, Sioux Falls, S.D.
That and a few different versions were used to wean calves and maybe an older calf from sucking. The harder they tried, the harder the points stuck in their nose. Glen Schweppe, Syracuse, Neb.
My Grand Dad called it a blab. You put it on a milk cow so she would not suck the other milk cows in the herd. Ted Bedient, Hemingford Neb.;
That device looks like it could be hung by the chain over a fence crawling cow’s neck to dissuade it from pushing through a fence. We have a couple of devices like that, but they are a different design. The premise is when the cow pushes through a fence the protrusions push back and thereby poke the cow in the neck and hopefully they get the idea that it hurts and back up. Knowing cows that is not a guarantee! We’ve never used ours, but they are still out there in the barn with some other antiques. Duane Oquist, Osceola, Neb.
Used on a cow to keep her from sucking on another cow ... chain slips over her nose, metal fits over her nose. Jack Buckley, Harrison, Neb.
I’ve seen it prevent a 2,000-pound bull from sucking on a cow. Vernon Schultz, Wisner, Neb.
Others with the “calf weaner” response:
Stan Shavlik, Linwood, Neb.; Claron Holscher, Cook, Neb.; Larry Marsh, Ord, Neb.; Richard Johnson, Ayr, Neb; Jim Stanczyk, Ashton, Neb.; Gary Cooper, Fontanelle, Iowa; Terry Esfeld, Great Bend, Kan.; Gary Froetschner, Garfield, Kan.; Sarah Jameson, Amherst, Neb.; Vern Keuck, Denison, Iowa; Kermit Smith, Eustis, Neb.; Ray Lindhorst, Lindsay, Neb.; Marleen Mauch Herbolsheimer, Scribner, Neb.; Darlene Zalesky, Wilber, Neb.; Dan Connell, Tryon, Neb.; Ron Dostal, Howells, Neb.; Bill Johnson, Leshara, Neb.; Robert Campbell, Neola, Iowa; Hugo Dittmer, Shelby Iowa; James L. Elder Sr., Marsland, Neb.; Willard Horak, Schuyler, Neb.; Rod Hollman, Martell, Neb.; Ang Nickolite, Bellwood, Neb.; Phil Brown, Clay Center, Kan.; Joe Murnane, Girard, Kan.; Gerard Weber, Princeton, Kan.; George Perlinger, Elsie, Neb.
When the most recent “What’s This?” item arrived, I immediately thought ice tongs, but Dick Ewald of Manitowoc, Wis., who sent in the photo, said not so fast. Tongs, yes. And most people can imagine them used to pull big blocks of ice from a body of water during the winter, or taking a block of ice from the ice house to use during the summer.
But Dick says these tongs were designed for transporting logs. Back when the modern Midwest was settled and developed, new residents cut down trees for several reasons: to open up space so they could farm the land, create space for a home to be built, to use the trees as lumber for the house or possibly to cut up so they could keep the house warm.
We received responses that gave the nod to logs and others to ice, and still others that didn’t mention either. Here are some of the responses:
This looks like a set of ice tongs. Heavy duty to attach a chain. I have a set with handles for carrying 50lbs or so. Ones with handles could be used to pull larger pieces that were too big to lift. I used these a lot many years ago. Jim Wissenburg, Crete, Neb.
Tongs to drag logs behind a team of horses. Joe Betz, Chapman, Kan. My guess is ice tongs. Paul Meyer, West Point, Neb.; My best guess is ice tongs for hoisting large blocks of ice before refrigeration. Van Schroeder
A hook butchers hung meat on and could butcher and turn the 1/4 on as they trimmed. Tom Schulz, Fulton, S.D.
Meat hook to hang butchered animals. Rich Locke, Stanton, Neb.
Ice tongs. Sandy Locke, Stanton, Neb.
The Bunkhouse gang agrees: ice block pick. I remember in the mid-1950s Dad cut lots of trees and sent them to a saw mill. The saw mill owner had a boom on his truck and picked up logs to cut. He had a hook that looked a lot like the “What’s This?”. Melvin Sporrer, Portsmouth, Iowa
Looks like a clench to lift hay in the peak of the barn, or large blocks of ice into or out of the “ice house.” Norma Troester, Auburn, Neb.
I think the mystery object is an ice tong. People used blocks of ice in their ice boxes. They would cut ice at ponds or other places where water was frozen. Guys would work as a team and put ice in ice houses. Neighbors worked together all the time. Richard Johnson, Ayr, Neb.
The guess is a log puller. Max Martin, Clay Center, Kan.
Log tongs or ice tongs. Wilbur Voth, Moundridge Kan.
Ice tongs, for picking or lifting ice blocks back in the day. Neal Neidig, Madison, Neb.
It’s an ice hook. Char Henton, Manhattan, Kan.
Jerry Morgenstern of Hoisington, Kan., sent this photo for “What’s This?” It looks a bit medieval, but he assures that it’s a piece that could be used in the Midwest – maybe not anymore, but certainly in the past.
So, What’s This?
If you know what it is, or want to offer a guess, submit it to terry.anderson@lee.net.
Be sure to include your name and hometown.
The consensus was clear: the most recent “What’s This?” clue was a major player in early rural America. While homes in town had such luxuries as electric lights, rural homes were left in the dark, literally, until the Rural Electrification Administration strung wire across the countryside.
Enter the Delco battery system, as shown in the photos sent to us by Stanley Shavlik of rural Linwood, Neb. The Delco electrified Midwest farms and ranches, lit the homes and powered appliances, radios and other things that required a bit of ingenuity and know-how.
I heard from Mel Sporrer from Portsmouth, Iowa. The boys at the Bunkhouse in Logan, Iowa, gathered over coffee to contemplate the photos.
“Don’t know if it’s called a battery pack, but some people used it to have light in the house before AC came about,” Sporrer wrote. “Ken Leonard told me that John Burbridge said it was also used to power a milking machine.”
Here are more responses:
The batteries and glass container are part of a Delco-Light Electric Plant. I have one of the glass containers from the farm where I grew up near Gibbon, Neb. According to research, it was developed by Charles Kettering in 1916. Janice Martin, Gibbon, Neb.
The Delco light plant was the first source of electricity for my grandparents’ farm house and it was a really big deal! Although the batteries are no longer any good, I heard you can still use the battery jars to make pickles in. Lori Hunzeker, Minden, Neb.
My father was a Delco light dealer in the 1920s, and he sold Delco. I’m not saying this is a Delco unit, but the jar is identical to what I was familiar with. When the battery went bad, the pioneer people were quite inventive – we would use it for a fish bowl. Evera Kreitman, Bassett, Neb.
The three on the left are storage batteries for an old wind generator on a farm or ranch. … Ranchers and farmers would charge them all day so they could listen to favorite radio programs and news for five or six hours a night, and then they’d charge them again.
The glass container is a form of storage batteries that were used in old American telephone offices. … My aunt ran a Nebraska telephone office, and there were eight of them behind the counter, and when the electricity went out, they ran the power off of that. … The glass ones sat on a wooden rack, some of the bigger offices had 20 or 30 stacked in there. Alfred N. Cochran Jr., Raymond, Neb.
If you did not have one, you could also take your dead battery to town and exchange it for a charged one. You could then listen to the Grand Ole Opry on WSM late at night. Steve Sayer, Dunbar, Neb.
My wife, Peggy, had one on their farm in South Dakota, around 1930s and ’40s. She said that her family were the only ones to have lights at that time. Don Miller, Chapman, Neb.
We had two what we called Delco houses on the ranch which housed the equipment. I remember my folks sending me out to the Delco house to shut the Delco off at night. I was only 5 or 6 years old I think when I remember the light plants. Believe we got electricity out here in 1953. Am 72 years old now. Larry C. Shavlik, Bartlett, Neb.
I recall as I was a young boy around 1940 Dad had one which was a generator with a gas engine which started automatically to keep the batteries charged to supply power to the farm. This worked well until electricity was brought in. Wavern Beckner, Belle Plaine, Kan.
We had the glass jar batteries. They were in a small, hand dug cave with a cellar door under the house. The battery jars were lined up on shelves dug from the earth. I don’t remember them powering any lights but I do remember sitting around the radio listening to “Fibber McGee and Molly” and “The Shadow.” Willard Horak, Schuyler, Neb.
The wind charger was a 6 volt generator with a wooden prop which we put up on a windmill tower. I remember when we got ours in 1936 and it was so wonderful to turn on lights in a room with a switch. We were right up there with town folks. Wiley McFarland, Cimarron, Kan.
Before rural electricity became available, my grandfather had a wind charger providing 24 volt electricity to the house. These jars stored the electricity and needed to be recharged frequently when the wind wasn’t blowing. Living in the same house where my grandparents raised 10 children between Hillsboro and Goessel, Kan., in Marion County. Rod Peters
Other responses that focused on Delco or bringing electricity to farms:
Bonnie Bayliss, Indianola, Neb.; Bill Johnson, Avoca Iowa; Frances Stevens, Paxton, Neb.; Darlene Schuster, Shelby, Iowa; Paul David Liebig, Platte Center, Neb.; Francis Leathers, Battle Creek, Neb.; Rod Hollman, Martell, Neb.; Corey Schaaf, Ord, Neb.; Dennis Dryden, Stockton, Kan.; Jesse N. Bandy, Oshkosh, Neb.; Thomas Johnson, Juniata, Neb.; Paul Sherman, Dixon, Neb.; Clyde Lowe, Chanute, Kan.; Joe Betz, Chapman, Kan.
Dick Ewald of Manitowoc, Wis., sent in this What’s This? clue. It probably doesn’t get much use anymore, with advances in equipment and technology, but it came in handy decades ago around the farm.
What do you think it is? Send your responses to terry.anderson@lee.net or to Terry Anderson, News Editor, Midwest Messenger, Box 239, Tekamah NE 68061.
Send us your best guess!
We received a variety of ideas and thoughts on the most recent “What’s This?” photo. Most were tied into rope and how rope is used. The interesting thing is most seemed reasonable.
Thanks to all who responded about the rope tool. Here they are.
The “What’s This?” picture is the end of a sling used to lift loose hay into the barn. A sling is four ropes; each rope was put through one of the holes pictured on this item and knotted. The sling was placed under loose hay in the hay rack. The hook pictured on this item went on the latch. As the hay was lifted (with horses or a tractor), the sling gathered together and the hay was lifted into the loft. When you wanted to release the hay in a certain place in the hay loft, a person outside by the hay rack pulled on the rope which released the latch and the sling swung out and the hay was released and fell down. Allan H. Rastede, Allen, Neb.
I believe this is a tool rather than a weapon. Three fingers would fit into the lower three holes in the picture with the fourth hole toward the palm of your hand, but why would the fourth hole be unusable instead of being placed where your fourth finger could fit into it? Or three fingers would fit into the upper three holes in the picture, but then your hand is covering the hook, so what use is the hook? Also, as a weapon the hook would be open so you could do far more damage than you could with this closed hook. It looks more the hook is intended to hold something (a rope?) in the wider part of the opening. And the holes could be for threading something through (a rope?) so you could easily secure it tightly because it overlaps itself. My guess is that it is for pulling something or holding something. So what would that be? I’m not a farmer so I will leave that question for a farmer. Ed Howard, Crete, Neb.
It’s for a sling with rope to take hay into the barn. Don Albers, Pawnee City, Neb.
I think the device went on the end of a harness line with the holes allowing the line to be adjusted for proper tightness. Dan Falen, Hope, Kan.
It is a tool used by vets. You thread rope through the holes to change the length of the rope to go around an animal’s neck. The hook goes through a ring. To wrap around the body of an animal to pull it down. Dick Schweers, Ponca, Neb.
I am not a farmer (actually a publisher) but I’ve worked with farmers all my long life and I believe the photo is a hay bale hook. (Back before bales were round and weighed 1,000 pounds!) Four fingers through the holes and the hook would catch the bale twine to help hoist it onto the flatbed or wagon, or out again. Gregg Knowles, Carroll, Iowa
I believe that it’s used to gather the reins of two teams of horses, to pull farm tillage equipment. Craig Smith, Fremont, Neb.
I think it may have been used when making rope. Mitch Coffin, Lincoln, Neb.
My guess would be a homemade calf pulling hook. Makes sense with the hook for the chain and the holes to grab ahold to it. Ryan Stamm, Smith Center, Kan.
It looks like a piece that could be part of the barn hay loft hay sling where several ropes passed through to hold it all together. Ken Enns, Inman, Kan.
Stan Shavlik, from rural Linwood, Neb., has been looking around his northern Saunders County farm and came across these three boxes with caps and cables. And there were some square glass jars. Notice the “water line” marking.
Yes, somehow, these have a connection and were pretty important parts of farm life comfort in the early 20th century. Do you know what they are? How were they used? And what did they do?
If you have some, send us your memories of these items. If you’re too young, you may have to send your guesses or ideas. We welcome them all.
Send them to terry.anderson@lee.net.
Blasting wedge ...?
The last “What’s This?” clue must have stumped most of our readers. We didn’t get many responses, but two were headed in the same direction. What do you think?
I can’t see all the details that I could positively state that this is a “Blasting Wedge.” Before the advent of firewood power splitters, a blasting wedge was made to drive into a large and long log. After the wedge was embedded, black gun powder, “Blasting Powder,” was poured into the center hole, ignited by use of a fuse the wedge split entire length of wood into a more manageable size for cutting Or a second attempt used to further downsize the diameter of log. This type of wedge did not split the log but the explosion of the powder did.
To prevent the wedge from blasting away as a rocket, some manufacturers attached a chain to wrap around the log to secure the wedge to the log after it blasted. Common practice usually had operator roll the log over so it would face down into ground and other logs placed over it as a safety measure.
Again, I would like to have seen if any lower area of the wedge had small holes or reliefs that took the blast from the wedge into the wood to complete the transfer of power. Manny Bartek, Lincoln, Neb.
It appears to be a power wedge although the hole in the end seems a bit shallow. You drove the wedge into a log with a hammer, filled the hole with black powder. When ignition occurred the wedge was propelled forward through the log. You can split large trees with one of these. Roger Tacey
I believe that this is a “black walnut cracker.” Larry Martin, Valparaiso, Neb.
Would it be a clock weight? Craig Smith; Fremont, Neb.
Paul D. Longfellow of Lenox, Iowa, says he found this piece of metal in a farm field, but has no idea what it is or what it was used for.
Some might think it’s an adaption of brass knuckles that more likely would be found in a dark alley in the city. The photo shows that this piece of metal, likely steel instead of brass, is about 4 inches long and a couple inches across.
One could only imagine that damage could be inflicted by that hook on the end.
So, what do you think it is? How was it used on the farm? Are those openings really for fingers? Or could they be for something else? And what else could the hook possibly be used for?
Heavy questions, for sure. Use your imagination, if necessary. Email your thoughts, guesses or predictions to terry.anderson@lee.net. Be sure to include your hometown.
There was little doubt “What’s This?” was in our most recent clue. It was a corn hook, though some responders explained its use a bit different and there also were some variations on the name. But the results were the same: hand-harvesting ear corn, walking in the fields and tossing the ears of corn into a horse-powered wagon, a continuous-motion operation, extremely antiquated by today’s monster machines.
Back then, it was the best there could be. The champion (and yes, it could be quite competitive with the neighbor or brother) kept moving as fast as the horses, with a regularly timed sound of an ear knocking the bang boards on the far side of the wagon. Some would have called it an artistry in motion. The best clearly had a system, and the corn hook played a major role in the operation.
The photo with this reveal includes someone’s hand, which I thought would have been overly simple to identify if published as the clue. The photo with the clue should have been a bit harder to identify, but it really didn’t fool anyone.
Here are some of the responses and stories we received:
It’s a photo of a right-handed thumb husking hook. I could pick 100 bushels a day, irrigated corn that was somewhat down in spots. I drove my wagon and team of horses about 6 miles of gravel road and blacktop road to Elton Potter’s farm 2 miles east of Monroe, Neb. His wife fed me three meals a day. Elton had an elevator to unload corn into a large wooden crib. He furnished hay and grain for my team, an older team that were very good for pulling a corn wagon. All I had to do was chuckle at them and they always were slightly ahead of me. I never had to look where they were.
On my left thumb I used a leather thumb hob nailed glove. I also carried alongside of my wagon 2 12-inch extra bang boards. I got paid 5 cents a bushel. Good wages for 1948. I was 18 years old. I picked from dark a.m. to dark p.m.
I’m 87 years old and could still pick corn! Ron Blaser, Columbus, Neb.
Corn Husking Hook. I tried one many years ago but wasn’t very successful. My granddad on my dad’s side could really make one work. He went to Iowa in the ’30s to shuck corn because the crops in Nebraska were dried up. Mitch Coffin, Lincoln, Neb.
It’s a corn picking hook worn on the thumb, fingers grab the clean ear and fling it into the wagon. Ted Haverkamp, Verdigre, Neb.
My answer is a thumb corn shucking hook. Don Donjon, Ovid, Colo.
It’s a corn husking hand sleeve. R.L. Pierson, Munden, Kan.
My dad used one to shuck corn. They strapped it to the wrist with that metal piece in the palm of the hand and it was used to remove the husk. David Salem, St. John, Kan.
It’s a hand corn husker used to shuck corn by hand before corn pickers were invented. Most of them are the “Boss” Huskers, manufactured by The Boss Mfg. Co., Kewanee, Illinois. I have a collection of hand corn huskers, 32 and counting. Dan Ast, Belle Plaine, Kan.
The item is a husking hook for corn. I have used it many times. Fred Howard, Sargent, Neb.
A corn husking hook. I have my grandpa’s on my back porch. Margaret Ruf, Wilsonville, Neb.
It’s an ear corn shucker hook. You strapped it on your wrist and picked corn by hand. Then you can throw the ear of corn into a wagon. It would shuck the husk off the ear of corn. Perry Sherman, Newcastle, Neb.
I’m guessing a corn hand chucker. Melvin Miller, Wayne, Neb.
It’s a tool you wear on your hand to shuck corn. I watched my dad use it when I was small. Burt Schroer, Lawrence Neb.
The “hook” used by a manual two-legged corn picker. You strapped this on the right hand. Grabbed the ear of corn with the left and with one swift move you had the ear of corn ready for the wagon equipped with a bang board. The wagon was pulled by a trusty team of horses and if two of you were “picking” the picker closer to the wagon hoped the outside row picker had a good aim for the throw. Proper additional equipment was a heavy pair of mittens! This brought back nostalgic memories. Jackie Wedemeyer, Scottsbluff, Neb.
I believe that the picture looks like a corn husking peg or hook. We used them when I was a boy and had to pick corn by hand to open up the field. Rod Hollman, Martell, Neb.
That is known as a corn shucker and attaches over a glove on one hand. The other hand grabs the ear of corn and then this hand with shucker tears the shucks, enough to break the ear loose from the stalk and away the ear goes into the wagon. There were different versions of shucking hooks, as my Mom used a peg.
Graduated from the 8th grade and helped my cousin (who was farming our farm due to my Dad’s health) and helped him shuck corn. I took the inside row and he took the next two rows. Helped him all fall and he paid me $20 and I asked for a $20 bill, as I never had one. Didn’t have to scoop the corn into a crib as we had a crib with an elevator in it. No lift, so had to get the corn out the back end gate. Glen Schweppe, Syracuse, Neb.
While going through my dad’s things after his passing, we came across this item. He worked as a drafter at Beach Aircraft during WWII. I think it might be some type of drafting tool, but not sure. Any help would be appreciated. Raylen Phelon, Melvern, Kan.
I would say it’s a corn hook for picking ear corn by hand. Glen Popken, Hooper, Neb.
Your picture … brought back memories of my youth and husking corn with a “Thumb hook” like the picture. A Palm Hook was more common but I tried the Thumb hook once and liked it. I grew up on a farm in the Bohemian Alps north of Garland. Our neighbors to the west and north both included young men who were good corn huskers and we could often hear each other’s “speed” on a quiet morning as we heard the ears hit the backboard. We were good friends and played on the Garland Town Team Baseball team. We thought of “picking corn” as an athletic event and worked at perfecting our skills. My record was 135 bushels in one day. Getting 100 was a standard for each of us. The Thumb hook helped but I also learned to never look at the ear I was working on but look at the next one and program your mind as to how to approach it. A lesson that I carried forward in my career in management with the USDA Soil Conservation Service. Verlon “Tony” Vrana, Seward, Neb.
That is a tool that’s put on your hand to hand pick ear corn off the stalk. Jeff Wolfe, Hartington, Neb.
And we heard from our regulars, too: Stan Shavlik, our 89-year-young reader from rural Linwood, Neb., and Melvin Sporrer, from Portsmouth, Iowa, who reported from the morning coffee group in Logan, Iowa. Both quickly recognized the corn hook.
The harvest season had to be greatly aided with the invention of the corn hook – and by those who developed a skill to use it. Harvest remained a slow process, but the hook may have been the equivalent of streamlining the routine. The combine was still years in the future.
Shane and Connie Smith of Sidney, Iowa, shared photos of a heavy iron item found on their farm in southwest Iowa.
“We have found miscellaneous items throughout the years as they said it was a relay station for stage coaches,” Shane said. “Would love to find out what it is.”
So would we. And we imagine there will be numerous conversations around the morning coffee table in cafes around the Midwest.
If you have an idea, let us know. Send your responses to terry.anderson@lee.net. Be sure to include your name and hometown.
When Gerard Weber of Princeton, Kan., sent in the photo of his “What’s This?” mystery item, it was a mystery to him, too.
There was metal, wood, screws, an oval hole, what looked like a thin piece of tin. But no idea what it was. The thought that it wasn’t likely formed by the need or imagination of a single farmer prompted hope that it was more common than it could have been.
Still, it wasn’t a sure thing that it was even from a farm.
But apparently it is.
Responses did not fill up my inbox, as is sometimes the case. But there were enough leaning toward one direction to make us feel like we really had “a thing.”
“The object … is a clamp for the bowls/discs of a cream separator,” wrote Harlan Holste, a reader from Ludell, Kan. “Ours is mounted to the wall just to the side of the separator for convenience. You set the whole assembly into the ring and as you tighten the nut it slides sideways and the ring grasps the base. After you are done separating cream you put it back in the ring and loosen the nut so you can disassemble it for cleaning. It works just as an oil filter wrench.”
“It is a base for a cream separator,” said Sam Kleinsasser from Cutbank, Mont.
“I believe the object is a bowl holder strap vise for a De Laval cream separator,” offered David Girodat from Hannah N.D.
A cream separator? Really? When was the last time you saw one of those? Well, other than some resourceful person turning the big bowl into an impromptu flower pot.
One of the enjoyable parts of the “What’s This?” feature is the imagination in the responses. It’s also good to see that the woes of the world are getting solved while mugs of coffee are consumed around café tables. But there’s still time to consider the important things in life.
One such group gathers in Logan, Iowa, and Melvin Sporrer from Portsmouth, Iowa, faithfully reports the “What’s This?” thoughts of the day. He says savvy 89-year-old Kenny Leonard thought the current mystery item could be part of a brake assembly for a clutch, a transmission or maybe the governor on a steam engine.
Well, “Why Not?”
This edition’s mystery may not be that much of a question.
“Much of these old things were hung in the granary on the wall from an old nail,” related Dick Ewald, from Manitowoc, Wis.
These days, it’s likely that this item has been on the old nail for many years. I even have one in my Omaha home.
Maybe, instead of just answering “What’s This?” share some stories from days long ago.
Send your responses to terry.anderson@lee.net. Be sure to include your name and hometown.
The “What’s This?” item pictured two weeks ago came from Stan Shavlik, from Linwood, Neb. He called it a “flail” and that’s what some of our readers called it, too.
Dennis Schlichting of Rosalie, Neb., said the item “is not some medieval battle equipment, but a very early threshing machine. In parts of the country, small grains were cut and hauled into barns where, when dried or slack time, it was spread out on the floor, termed the threshing floor.
“The item pictured is called a flail. It was handled by the long skinny shaft and swung at the straw laying on the floor so that the heavy hinged piece hit the hay or floor flat. In this way, it knocked the grain loose from the straw. After beating the grain loose, a special winnowing fork was used to remove the straw from the floor to either feed to livestock or use as bedding.
“Then the grain was scooped up and fanned to remove hulls and chaff and new straw was spread and the whole procedure was started all over.”
Others who responded with similar answers:
It looks like a thresher or thrasher, used to beat the grain out of the chaff of small grains by hand. It seems like it would be a back breaking job, and not the most efficient. I’m sure the early farmers hailed the new mechanical threshing machines as a wonderful improvement. John Rosman, Harlan, Iowa
I think it is a grain or wheat flail used for separating grain from husks. Dave Oliver, Weeping Water, Neb.
The object … is called a “flail” or “flailer.” I’ve never seen one used in the USA, however, at a historical farm show in Germany a few years ago, they demonstrated using a flail on wheat. It is used to beat the grain off the stems of the plant. George DeWitt, Council Bluffs, Iowa
We believe the tool is a flailing tool, used to pound grain from the straw. The straw was swept away and the grain picked up. Deciding what the tools are is a fun time for our morning coffee group at Mel’s Bar in Scribner. Duane Muller, Scribner, Neb.
Gerard Weber of Princeton, Kan., has been mulling over the mystery of this object for many a year.
This photo shows a round metal object with the flat bottom screwed into a piece of wood, possibly a 1x10 or 2x10, 17 inches long. The piece of metal has an oval hole that shows some of the wood grain. The base on one side is bent at a 90 degree angle and could be about a quarter inch thick. The circle inside the base is maybe an inch deep and possibly made of a thin piece of tin, and secured after wrapping around two posts.
It would appear to be commercially made and not something that a farmer or blacksmith might have designed. So what do you think its purpose was? Does it have a name? Is it something regional in nature or would it have been used beyond the Midwest and High Plains?
Send your responses, including hometown, to terry.anderson@lee.net.
We’re always looking for more “What’s This?” items. You can send photos via email to that same address. Be sure to include as much information as you can. We’ll use some of the information as a clue for the object and more with the responses and results. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number, should we have questions.
Stan Shavlik, who has been farming near Linwood, Neb., for many decades, submitted this homemade but essential piece of farm equipment … essential at least during his early years on the farm. Automation greatly decreased its need.
The name of the item was penciled in on one side of its business end and “1889” was written elsewhere. Compared to a 48-inch ruler, the longer piece is more than 50 inches long. The two pieces are attached with some old leather and a bit of twine, which likely means it was repaired at some time in its history.
“Think of all the sweat equity that went into. …” Oops, can’t finish that quote from Shavlik because it would give away the answer to “What’s This?”
That’s where our readers can chime in. Do you know what this is called and what it was used for? Share your knowledge – or guesses – with other readers by emailing to: terry.anderson@lee.net. Be sure to include your hometown.
Your responses will be shared in the Jan. 4 edition of Midwest Messenger.
Some called it a tile shovel, tile spade or a crumber, but the last “What’s This?” item had a big purpose on the farm.
“This tile shovel has been around the farm since I was old enough to remember,” said Dick Ewald of Manitowoc, Wis., who submitted the item. “I retired from dairy farming in ‘98 and maintained much of the land to rent out, keeping many old farm tools.
“When tiling was in its heyday, big tiling machines would trench out many main lines through fields to discharge points. These projects were expensive in ‘those days’ — ‘30s through the ‘60s — so small and shorter ‘legs’ were many times hand dug, putting tile down and connecting them to the main lines for field drainage .
“Since clay and cement tile were the predecessor to the newer plastics plowed-in with a huge knife behind larger tractors or tracked machines. Plastics needed no open trench.
“Laying tile by hand digging trenches needed to have a level rather smooth bottom so the clay or cement tile fit together end to end, fairly level and even. This is where the tile shovel came into play, to clean, level and smooth the bottom of the trench before putting down the tile and fitting them together and covering, then closing the trench.”
Since nearly every farm had this item, many reader responses were on track, but depending on where they were, the uses had some variations. Here are some of the responses.
“It’s hard to tell from the photo, but if this is a concave piece of steel, I believe it is a tool that we called a ‘spoon.’ It was used to remove loose dirt from the bottom of a tile line ditch when we dug them by hand with a tile spade.” Dr. Larry Stuckey, Plattsmouth, Neb.
“The picture I think is a shovel to clean out a road culvert.” Gary Kubicek, Oak, Neb.
“The tool is a trench hoe used to clean out the dirt in the bottom of a trench. I have one and used it occasionally.” Robert Braden, Lincoln, Neb.
“The item is a crumber or tile scoop. It was used to clean dirt crumbs and high spots off the hand dug tile lines so tile would lay flat. It was used for individual clay tile lines before the tiles we laid by machine.” Randy Irlbeck, Dedham, Iowa
“It looks like a shovel we used on construction 45 years ago to clean out the bottom of a trench.” Dave Bruning, Bruning, Neb.
“We would say it is a hog trough cleaner or any type of livestock trough cleaner. Thanks for the good reading.” Betty Wissing
“The picture is a crumber. When putting clay tile in the ground by hand, this tool would aid in removing any loose dirt (crumbs) and uneven surface from the bottom of the tile ditch. It had a long handle so you could stand beside the tile ditch and reach down with the crumber.” Paul D. Longfellow, Lenox, Iowa
“It’s called several names, including tiler’s spade and trenching tool. I know because I used one.” Melvin Sporrer, Portsmouth, Iowa
“Tile shovel or spade.” Jerry Slota, Washta, Iowa
“I believe is a trench cleaner, used to get the dirt out of a trench so that water lines or foundations could be placed.” Lowell Poppe, Scribner, Neb.
“It looks a lot like a “tile spade” or tile shovel when tiling was done by hand.” Barbara Watson, Iowa
The “What’s This?” picture in the Nov. 23 Midwest Messenger is a sack holder used to hold grain sacks as they were being filled.
“My Great Uncle Frank Maves of Amherst, Wisconsin, received a patent for his invention of a sack holder that looks just like this one,” said Jon Maves, also of Amherst. “We still own two of his original sack holders.”
Richard Wurtzberger of Sleepy Eye, Minn., also said it was for filling sacks. “It made filling a sack such as seed oats a one-man job.”
Mel Froemming, a Lee Agri-Media reader from Gresham, Wis., sent in the photo and said it is a bag holder for gunny sacks. He said it was found in his granary and somewhere on it reveals “Pat. August 1900 T.J Wavrunek. Harness, blankets, robes, etc. Shawano, Wisconsin.”
The object pretty much stumped Midwest Messenger readers. Evon Hoopes of Anthony, Kan., admitted her response was a guess.
“It reminds me of a sulky seat with arm attachments for harness races,” Hoopes said. “A sulky is a light two-wheeled horse drawn vehicle for one person, used chiefly in harness racing. Both my Dad and my Grandpa loved to race in harness races. It’s nice to remember back to what my Dad did as a young man.”
It’s likely that nearly every farm has, or had, the item introduced in this “What’s This?” entry. But depending on where you were, it could have had more uses some places than other places.
The person who submitted the photo said the item was around the farm since he was old enough to remember and that was quite a few years back because he retired from dairy farming in 1998.
Send your responses to terry.anderson@lee.net. And look for the responses in the Dec. 21 edition of Midwest Messenger.
Can you identify this mystery farm tool?
Submit your best guess!
The wind chimes that were featured in our most recent “What’s This?” clue asked what was on the reverse side of one of the chime pieces. We let you know it was a certain seed company, but with all the mergers and consolidations over the years, it might not be around these days.
It is, however, still in business. In fact, the business has spread to other areas of agriculture.
Here are some of the responses from our readers:
The wind chime was a PAG Seed item or maybe PAG/Paymaster. I was a PAG, then Cargill seed dealer in those days. Ted Gleim, Lincoln, Neb.
We have a wind chime just like the one in the “What’s This?” picture. Ours has Cargill Hybrid Seed on the fourth chime. My husband (Leland Schlake) sold Cargill Seed for many years. Alice Schlake, Cortland, Neb.
The wind chime company is “Cargill” Hybrid Seeds. My father, Keith Lerum, sold Cargill seeds for many years. He has passed away. My mother, Donna Lerum, still has the wind chime on her front porch in Plainview Neb. Janae Wilson
The wind chimes shown were put out by Cargill Hybrids. Ron and Vera Ebeler, Tecumseh, Neb.
This is just a guess. I would think it’s Dekalb. Jerry Konert, Columbus, Neb.
Mel Froemming, a Lee Agri-Media reader from Gresham, Wis., sent this photo to see if he could stump other readers.
He said it was found in his granary and somewhere on it reveals “Pat. August 1900”.
Send your guesses or thoughts to terry.anderson@lee.net and we’ll reveal what it is in our Dec. 7 edition of Midwest Messenger.
Just when you think the latest “What’s This?” object might remain a mystery, our readers come through.
George Albin of Hastings, Neb., sent the photo without knowing what the object was. “I’ve asked a lot of people. No one knows,” he said.
But it didn’t take long for that photo to show up online and be in print. I received a phone call a day before that issue’s cover date.
“That’s a one-row walk-behind cultivator,” Kenny Zoubek told me on the phone. The Milligan, Neb., farmer said the object as pictured was sort of upside down. The four shanks on the right of the photo should be pointing down. Shovels would be attached to break up the ground and control the weeds.
Just think of today’s equipment, powerful tractors with planters, tillage equipment and combines wider than a farmer could imagine 100 years ago. Yet this one-row cultivator needed two horses to pull what appears to be a quite simple piece of farm equipment.
The New Departure cultivator was invented by J.H. Pattee and patented in 1872.
John Rudolph of Syracuse, Neb., knew the New Departure name as well, as did James Collins from Bedford, Iowa.
“You would also need two wheels before you could get anything done,” Rudolph said.
Said Collins, “On the other end should be two walking handles.”
Jerry L. Anderson of Hay Springs, Neb, noted that the shanks didn’t necessarily need the shovels and could dig just as they are.
Glenn Thompson of Woodbine, Iowa, ought to know what he’s talking about. The 90-year-old farmer knows first-hand. “I ran one when I was a kid at home cultivating corn.
“This is a set of beams for a one-row two-horse cultivator. The beams in the photo are upside down. With a seat the four shanks below would have a set of four shovels, a handle for each beam, also a foot ring to guide the beams down the row. The one without a seat is called a foot burner.”
In a closed west central Minnesota restaurant, Andrea Johnson, editor of Farm & Ranch Guide, Minnesota Farm Guide and The Prairie Star, found this 1980s wind chime advertising a certain company. The intent was to show how growing this brand of corn would fatten up cattle and hogs.
Do you know what the seed company name is? Despite all the consolidations and mergers since then, the company is still around.
We’ll turn that piece of metal over in two weeks. In the meantime, let us know if you know the answer.
Send your response via email to:
This edition’s item is a complete mystery, though we’re confident our readers will help us discover what it is and what it was used for.
George Albin of Hastings, Neb., sent us the photo and said he has no idea what it is. “I’ve asked a lot of people. No one knows,” he said.
So, readers, What’s This?
If you send responses, please let us know where you are from. We will run your response but only if you include your hometown.
Please email your ideas for what this is to:
“No doubt you’ll receive an avalanche of responses to the ‘What’s This?’ photo this week.’
That may be the understatement of the week. It seems Midwesterners know their hog equipment. Janet Soukup emailed me for her father, Stan Shavlik of rural Linwood, Neb., who “called me immediately with his response: A Hog Scraper!”
“Stan remembers hog butchering time ... someone would kill the hog; it was ‘stuck’ to bleed out, saving the blood for sausage (jelita). Then the hog was laid out in a trough of boiling hot water. The next task was to begin scraping the bristles off the hide. The large end of the tool scraped the main areas, while the small end was to get in behind the ears. If jaternice was to be made, hog ears and snouts were necessary ingredients!”
A decade ago, when “What’s This?” was in its first go-round, I ran a photo of a hog oiler and was inundated with emails and letters. Now the swine community has responded again. Here are some of the many comments, followed by a list of correct responses.
We have one in our DeWitt Historical Society Museum. Doris Peters, DeWitt, Neb.
I had to help my dad when we would butcher. Recognize it right away. Had not seen one of those scraper for many years. Dad had at least four of them. We all had to scrape. Larry Stuchlik, Lincoln, Neb.
I can remember in my youth … during our own butchering of hogs for our own family use. … Somewhat similar to scalding a chicken in scalding hot water, and then cleaning the feathers off a chicken prior to butchering. The scalding made the feathers come off much easier just like the scalding of the hog made the hair come off easier. Bob Geiger, Thurman, Iowa
Used in a hog slaughter to scrape fat from inside carcass. Pat Broders, Norfolk, Neb.;
My stepdad from PA had me scraping hogs back in the ‘70s. Marc T. Holtz, Fairport, N.Y.;
The result of a long day of starting with this tool was a batch of fresh cracklings. Out of this world good. This was a time when neighbors and kin got together to butcher a hog and lay in for winter. Ben Cowling, Roca, Neb.
The tool was called a hide scraper and could be sharpened from the underside. Kenneth Widhalm, Dodge, Neb.
I’ve seen it used on coon hides and muskrats. Gary Cooper, Fontanelle, Iowa.
We used to do this whenever we ran low on pork. There were nine kids in our family so it took a lot of groceries. George Perlinger, 95 years young and living alone on his farm in southwest Nebraska.
When the plates became dull they were sharpened with a file. I have a handle and a few extra plates from the old days. Vern Keuck, Denison, Iowa.
Nary a piece would go to waste, pickled pigs feet, pickled tongue, render the lard, make bacon, scrapple, cure the hams, make sausage, & on until nothing was left but the squeal!! Marlin Perks, Stockville, Neb.
The hog scrapers were cleaned and stored with the big black butchering kettles which we always kept in the Butcher House until the next butchering. Oh the memories of an exciting day. Mary Dahl, Superior, Neb.
As far as I’m concerned it is the only way to clean a hog. We still have our scrapers. Don Dolezal, Brainard, Neb.
Curtis Willhite, Leon, Kan.; Carole Meng, Waterloo, Kan.; Paul Speck, Glenwood, Iowa; Jerry Konert, Columbus, Neb.; Dwight Phillips, Fremont, Neb.; Steve Sayer, Dunbar, Neb.; Larry Stuckey, Plattsmouth, Neb.; Dianne Dick, Rossville, Kan.; Tim Kuchta, Hartington, Neb.; Mike Fischer, Oshkosh, Neb.; John Rosman, Harlan, Iowa;
Tyler Martin, Valparaiso, Neb.; Tom and Fran Geisler, Hooper, Neb.; Harriett Holman, Plattsmouth, Neb.; Lee Morse, North Platte, Neb.; Dallas Puls, Norfolk, Neb.; Willard Horak, Schuyler, Neb.; Kelly Pokorny, Bladen, Neb.; Dixie Lees, Marsland, Neb.; Neal Neidig, Madison, Neb.; Ron Pinney, Wood Lake, Neb.; Dale Wemhoff, Norfolk, Neb.;
Lucien Hamernik, Norfolk, Neb.; Lanny Schmidt, Fremont, Neb.; Rich Johnson, Ayr, Neb.; Steve Rainforth, Doniphan, Neb.; Martin Schumacher, Hemingford, Neb.; Jerry Copple, Dakota City, Neb.; Jerome Loeffelholz, Pleasanton, Neb.; Randy Johnson, Stromsburg, Neb.; Marilyn Mattley, Burwell, Neb.; Les Lindblad, Denton, Neb.;
Don Anderson, Osceola, Neb.; David Johnson, Lake City, Kan.; Larry Steckline, Garden Plain, Kan.; Warren Hahn, Atlanta, Kan.; Michael Schmeidler, Hays, Kan.; Fred and Sheri Seachris, Buhler, Kan.; Cheryl and Bob Tooker, Silver Creek, Neb.; Bird and Kelly Pokorny, Bladen, Neb.; Rita Kleinschmit, Fordyce, Neb.; Dave Thomas, Mitchell, Neb.;
Lyle Lingenfelter, Plainview, Neb.; Billy Stromer, Ayr, Neb.; Ambrose Podraza, Columbus, Neb.; Jim Stout, Wakefield, Neb.; Evon Hoopes, Anthony, Kan.; David Salem, St. John, Kan.; Bruce Stucky, Moundridge, Kan.; Ron Hulinsky, Ord, Neb.; Chris Diedrichsen, Holdrege, Neb.; Joel David, Glidden, Iowa.
I also love to see Midwest ingenuity at work. Here are some practical answers:
I think the photo was a bird bath or feeder. My parents had one made out of two disk blades with a 4x4 between them. … We had one that looked the same. William Schaupp, Dunlap, Iowa.
I am pretty sure that it is a sheep shear. We had one. I found it in our barn so I asked my Dad what it was. He said it was a sheep shear. That was 50 years ago. I am 66 years young. Stephen Falk, Hoskins, Neb.
The object looks like what you would put a horse’s hoof on to rasp smooth or to crimp nails after shoeing the horse. Set the object on end with the small end up, then set the horse’s hoof onto it. Just a wild guess. Scott Morgan, Allen, Neb.
The picture resembles a spacer spool used between disc blades of a horse drawn disc. Don Andersen, Ponca, Neb.
So, what could this be?
The strange device pictured was found in Wisconsin but doesn’t have anything to do with cheeseheads. In fact, it could have been used almost anywhere. If you know what it is, or have a good guess, send an email with name and address to terry.anderson@lee.net.
Send us your ‘What’s This?’ photos!
We want our readers to submit photos of mysterious things found in the shop or barn or attic or even the pasture.
Email photos to terry.anderson@lee.net as a jpg attachment, at least 300K in size, with “What’s This?” in the subject line of the email. Please include name, address and phone, what you think or know it is and where the item was found.
Even though the size and efficiency of farm equipment has changed, working the fields remains a springtime ritual. Once you’ve worked a field a few times, you remember its contour, where the water-run strips are and any obstacles like big rocks.
It’s a far cry from the days when homesteaders needed to create fields by removing rocks, trees and stumps to create tillable land. Acres of ridgetop fields were created by clearing the land – without the benefit of a tractor. Using horses and a grubber, the stumps were pulled out and away.
That stump puller could have been a Swenson Grubber. The “Encyclopedia of American Farm Implements” by CH Wendel has a passage on the Swenson Grubber Co. of Cresco, Iowa. In 1895 John Swenson and his father, Lorens, founded the Faultless Stump Puller Co. They engaged in the manufacture of stump pullers at Cresco until 1899, when they sold the business.
“By the 1890s the firm of Caward & Swenson Co. was building its Faultless Two-Horse Grubbing Machine, claiming it to be the best stump puller that man’s knowledge and skill has ever been able to produce,” the entry states.
John Swenson was born in 1872 in Racine County, Wis., and was a natural-born mechanic. He invented the Swenson steam valve, the original Swenson mower – one of the first in the country – and helped invent one of the first self-binders, a knot-tying device used in reapers. He also invented another stump puller that in 1905 won the gold medal at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon. In 1900 he and his father had founded the Swenson Grubber Company. By 1909 the company offered five different sizes of machines; it remained active until the 1920s.
The basic principle of the stump puller was two horses hitched to the end of a sweep log or beam. They were driven in a circle to turn the cable drum on the stump puller, which was anchored to another stump or a tree.
The drum cable was attached to the stump, and became tighter and tighter. The tremendous force applied at a slow rate eventually pulled up the stump. Softwood trees pulled out much easier than oak trees, which had a deeper tap root.
Pullers made of cast iron were eventually replaced by steel, which was less brittle.
One account of a rival stump puller made by Hercules claims that, in a series of tests in 1915 under the supervision of the University of Minnesota, a team of horses with three men cleared 5 acres and 1,261 stumps of soft timber in nine days.
Eventually tractors replaced horses and hydraulic equipment took over. By then most of the country had been settled and the demand for breaking new ground lessened.
This stump puller is from 1906, based upon the description and other photos. Some of the parts are missing – but they may be buried in the ground where the puller has sat for 50 years or more.
Here are some of the reader responses:
Bill Schaupp, Dunlap, Iowa — I think the picture is a stump puller. My dad and uncles used it to clear a lot of land for farming in the ‘30s and ‘40s. Ours looked a little different but was maybe made by another company.
Gary Cooper, Fontanelle, Iowa — The item is a rolling hinge from an old garage door that opened by rolling on a track inside the garage. The doors were in sections to around the curve, that’s why there is a hinge on the roller. I haven’t seen one for years.
Craig Gustafson — I believe it is a hay mow carriage. They run on a track at the peak of the hay mow to lift hay up and into the hay mow. A long rope was attached and ran through the barn to be pulled by horses or a tractor which provided the power to lift the hay.
George Perlinger — There used to be a little machine, I think it was called a Wagon Jack that they used to unload ear corn or other things. In the days when we picked corn by hand with a team and wagon, it had a frame that you drove the wagon under, unhitched the horses and hitched them up to the machine which had a low shaft near the ground that ran to the overhead frame. The horses walked around in a circle stepping over the shaft which raised the front end of the wagon box to dump the corn out into an elevator which moved it to the crib. My father did not have one and I always had to shovel the corn by hand.
There’s a bit of rust on this edition’s “What’s This?” item. It hasn’t moved for a while, as shown by what has grown around and through it.
It looks old, but not that large, somewhat surprising if it came from many years ago when farm pieces came big and clumsy. And there seems to be a lot of surfaces and pieces attached to another.
So, What’s This?
Send your ideas, especially if you are sure what it is. We like guesses, too, so let your mind wander a bit. Think creatively. Or be practical. Was it used in the fields, or in the shop? Might it have been attached to something? Or was it used as is?
If you have something to share, you can send images of them to the same email and postal addresses. If you know what it is, tell us so we can tell if our readers know, too. If you don’t know, that’s fine because we like to see how creative our readers can be.
Until a couple weeks ago, the only reference I can recall to “clinker” was from the movie “A Christmas Story,” when the Old Man goes to the basement to see what’s wrong with the furnace and proclaims, “It’s a clinker!”
I figured he was using the slang expression for things that continually break down. But it also may have been a clue to what we pictured two weeks ago in our “What’s This?” question.
The object was a long rod with a handle on one end and a claw on the other.
“It is a clinker remover, used for removing clinkers (hot coal lumps) from stoker furnaces,” said Leland Schlake of Cortland, Neb. He sent a picture of himself with his great-grandson, Creighton. “He is holding my old clinker remover (about 100 years old) which I used in the early 1960s in my coal furnace,” Leland said.
There were quite a few reader responses that followed Schlake’s definition — or close to it.
“We used this to take clinkers out of our coal burning furnace on our Cedar County farm sometime in the early ‘50s,” said Don Andersen of Ponca, Neb. “I think clinker remover came with our stoker that fed coal into the original wood burning furnace in our basement. The stoker converted the wood furnace into a coal burning furnace and was controlled by a thermostat in the living room. The burned coal turned into large chunks of ash, softball size and larger and had to be removed from the furnace every couple of days.”
Roger Hatzenbuehler from Beatrice, Neb., said, “We used it to pull clinkers out of the coal furnace. We also used it to arrange wood logs when we burnt wood. I don’t know how old it is but it’s been around about as long as I can remember.”
Steven Perry of Norfolk, Neb., said he has one to remove lumps of coal. “When I was a boy 13 ... 14 we had a converted coal furnace to burn wood. We had only one register to heat the house ... and it was not forced air. Thankful those days are past!”
Others who were right on target included Gerald Simonsen, Matt Benz, Ken Vetter, Ronnie Christensen, Neal Gaul from Earling, Iowa, Barb Shaver, Gary Cooper from Fontanelle, Iowa, and Roger Lyon.
Others, including Steve Downer, said they didn’t know what it was but they had one just like it.
Several responses were either in the right direction or very creative with their possible uses.
“I have one just like it. Mine is not rusted shut,” said Harriett Holman from Plattsmouth, Neb., noting that the claw on the original photo’s object was rusted and couldn’t be manipulated. “No identifying company or date that I can find. Possibly farmers used it to retrieve or place things up high. I have also seen similar items to retrieve finished products from a kiln. Possibly a blacksmith may have used it to retrieve items out of a forge.”
Roger Jessen, Danbury, Iowa, said it was a tool to clean out flues on steam engine tractors.
Jack Peters, Sidney, Neb., knew of the clinkers, too, but “The only thing I use the tool today for is to remove a carcass of some deceased animal that I don’t want to get close to.
Jerry Konert could see it being used to catch a hog by gripping the hind legs.
Carolyn Finney guessed it could be used as a fruit picker. “It could have had a bag to catch the fruit attached to the pole,” she wrote. “Harvesting apples used to be a big deal in rural area where just about everybody had two or three trees. And getting the high stuff without damaging the tree or falling from a ladder was important. (High lift loaders were uncommon when you farmed with a horse.)”
In the early years of what was then Midwest Producer, we had a popular feature called “What’s This?” We published old or odd items found on the farms throughout our coverage area. Some of the senders had no clue what the item was. Others knew, but wanted to see if others did.
If not found on the farm, it may be something in a display at one of the many history museums around Nebraska, Kansas and surrounding areas. As the Nebraska editions of Midwest Messenger become weekly publications, we’d like to revive this feature.
Our first item falls under the title of “no clue.”
Roger and Grace Wipf live near Tekamah, Neb., and brought this item into the office. It’s a piece of aged iron, 6 inches wide at the handle (right), and 51 inches long. The 4-inch grapple (left) is rusted closed and there may have been a wooden handle between the collars on the shaft. It’s hard to tell if it was factory-made or produced in some inventive farmer’s shop.
So, What’s This?
Send your ideas to:
Or
Terry Anderson
News Editor
Midwest Messenger
Box 239
Tekamah NE 68061-0239
If you have something and wonder, What’s This?, you can send a photo to either of the addresses above. Include any information you may have, what it’s made of, dimensions, age if known, or anything else that could be a clue.