I found this very interesting post. I can guess what some of them must be but have no idea about the others. Can someone please help identify these:
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2There's only one I can ID with 100% certainty. #9 is a pair of butter churns. Pour milk in jar, crank paddles, get butter.– PrestonJul 22, 2014 at 11:17
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It would be helpful to number these for easier responses.– GdDJul 22, 2014 at 11:53
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4These are some fascinating, weird tools, but this looks a bit OT because it's not about a specific problem. I'm presuming that you don't have most of these things sitting around collecting dust because you don't know how to use them.– logophobeJul 22, 2014 at 13:53
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1Number 7 looks like sugar cube scissors, used to pick up and serve sugar cubes. And 11 looks like tweezers to remove fish bones, such as from salmon. Interesting array of tools.– AntonHJul 22, 2014 at 15:58
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4If this question is going to stick around, I think there should be a single community-wiki answer. It's kind of a mess trying to read through the answers and match things up with the photos, and parse out conflicting dupes and agreeing dupes, and figure out which items haven't yet been identified.– LauraJul 22, 2014 at 18:09
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1 Answer
This is a collection of identifications from existing answers. If you know what something is, please add it here, rather than adding yet another answer - and remember to explain how you use it!
1. An egg scissor. Lee Valley used to sell some as recently as this century. You hold it like scissors, open the blades, put the circle over the top of your hard-boiled egg (which is sitting upright in an egg cup) and close the blades, neatly cutting off the top of the egg. The chicken motif reinforces the purpose. It's gold coloured because it's an entirely showing off tool that nobody genuinely needs.
2. Fork for sardines
3. A pair of tongs for asparagus. Thumb goes in the top ring, two fingers in the rings underneath. Just for asparagus. Yes, it's silly.
4. A butter or cheese knife with an integrated fork. Cut a pat of butter, use the fork to transfer it wherever it's going.
5. Knife for oranges
6. Another butter/cheese knife+fork.
7. Sugar cube scissors. Used to pick up and serve sugar cubes.
8. A cherry pitter. Insert cherry, work the action, no more cherry pit.
9. A pair of butter churns. Pour cream in jar, crank paddles, get butter. You can move the top from jar to jar.
10. A bbq-type fork. It has a little piece of machinery integrated to push whatever it is you've skewered off again. If you squeeze the little handles sticking out at the top, the scissor action will push the end down. I guess it removes the need to use another utensil to do the job...? (It's either that or something designed for easy fire-roasting while you sit at a comfortable distance.)
11. A strawberry stem remover. They still sell these: http://www.shop.thekozynook.com/Strawberry-Huller-5582.htm OR Tweezers to remove fish bones, such as from salmon. OR Tweezers to pluck feathers from birds.
12. Stand for fruit knives
13. A sugar spoon with integrated caster. Take a bit of sugar from the bowl, then use the hole to drizzle it over your food.
14. Device for holding game at cutting (put it on one of the critter's legs, lock it with the screw)
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4Nice link - there's even more neat stuff there. Also, Google Translate yields something akin to dadaist poetry. To wit: "Two cups with shelf mustache. Surely these were Hercule Poirot. Horn as shoes for infant feeding. Somewhere in the East still runs like horns." Jul 22, 2014 at 20:02