Does anyone know what this is?

TaniaC
by TaniaC
Can anyone tell me what the heck this is...A friend of mine that owns a resale store here in town had this in his store and he has no idea what it is... I'm thinking it is some kind of gardening tool but I don't know what...I told him I would post it on here and hope that someone can give us the answer...Cheers hope you all can help with this one..;)♥
  36 answers
  • Lori J Lori J on Aug 13, 2012
    What is it made of?
  • Marg C Marg C on Aug 13, 2012
    interesting...I've never seen anything like it.
  • TaniaC TaniaC on Aug 13, 2012
    @ Lori ...It's a real hard steal or Iron I guess ...It's really old and the end was sharpened at one time... I thought it may have been a post hole digger but my hubby told me Tania that's just silly.. the dirt would fall through the holes LOL!...;) Oh Yeah Duh! ...It looks like it may have had a wooden handle on the long skinny tapered part at one time...I'm stumped on this one HMMMM!
  • Z Z on Aug 13, 2012
    Not sure, but it looks to be a part of some sort of farm tool though with those holes it's got me baffled just what kind of tool.
  • William Heistand William Heistand on Aug 14, 2012
    Only a guess, but I have seen similar shaped implements in the trades used to coil rope and wire.
  • I would assume it was some sort of scraper of some kind. The pointed end was shaped like many old shovels were forged to accept a wooden handle of some sort. The curved sharper edge appears that it was used for scraping something off of the wall of perhaps a drum or container of some sort. The openings perhaps allowed what ever it was to fall through the openings. I am going to do some more research on this as it really has me stumped. Being in IL, a farming area. Could it have anything to do with cutting tobacco or some sort of plant? I have seen all sorts of strange tools in various areas of the country that would never been seen in others do to what the tool did.
  • I think I found it! it appears to be a clay spade http://www.antiquefarmtools.info/page11.htm number 605 it also can be a potato fork http://www.antiquefarmtools.info/page6.htm number 181
  • Frances S Frances S on Aug 14, 2012
    It's a paddle for a mixer.
  • It looks like a paddle in an ice cream maker.
  • KMS Woodworks KMS Woodworks on Aug 14, 2012
    I'm with woodbridge on this ...a Clay spade. The pointed end is a common tang that would be inserted into a wooden handle and secure with an iron ring. Clay soils are very dense and heavy and it would seem this tool was used shave off sections from the side of a hole.
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 14, 2012
    This is what they use when you have a colonoscopy. Now you know why they put you to sleep! :)
  • Leslie D Leslie D on Aug 14, 2012
    LOL Donna! I like your answer the most, but Woodbridge is correct. It's a Clay Spade. We used to own an antique business in Colorado, and my Dad owned one for years in SC, so I've seen many of these. What is most interesting is that when it comes to tools and kitchen implements, you'll find that the designs are almost never duplicated (just look at toasters over the years). Inventors were always trying to improve on design, and you will rarely find two that are exactly alike. This one had the "vents" so that when you pulled the clay out of the ground, and it stuck to the shovel, you could kick the clay off through the holes.
  • TaniaC TaniaC on Aug 14, 2012
    Hey thanks everyone for your great answers!! I knew I could count on this site to find me the answer... My friend will be thrilled to know what it is♥ Woodbridge Enviromental I think you are spot on it sure does look like that Clay spade in the picture and it makes sense since we have a lot of clay ground here in Illinois..:)..William that was a great guess i would never had thought of that..:) Frances and Shabby your right I can see it being a mixing paddle but then i thought that if this is really old that would be a lot of work to turn it by hand LOL!..And Donna you are flippin hilarious LMAO! Ouchy! and Leslie thank you ..Yes it does make sense that they made the spade with the holes cause I have tried to dig into this ground with a regular spade and the Clay gets stuck on it so it's a great idea that they put the hole groves in it to knock the clay off easier.... Cheers!♥ and thanks again..:)
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 14, 2012
    I'm so relieved I was wrong! Pun intended, ;) Now Tania, you asked me about what ASCP meant, I have to ask you what "LMAO" means. I know this is probably a really stupid question and everyone probably knows the answer except me.
  • Donna, LMAO means "Laughing My _ _ _ off!"
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 14, 2012
    Well, that was appropriate given the subject of my comment! Thank you for bringing me up to speed!
  • TaniaC TaniaC on Aug 14, 2012
    Hehe! Oh that is just funny :) I wasn't even thinking when I put LMAO up there with your post LOL! Oh I did check the mirror and it's still there ♥..:) maybe I need some more of your posts Hehe!
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 14, 2012
    Well, I wasn't as creative as you. You actually came up with a pretty good guess for ASCP. I couldn't think of an alternative for LMAO, though I tried!
  • Z Z on Aug 14, 2012
    Ha ha ha, that's funny Donna. I find myself Googling acronyms all the time. My sister used to think LOL was lots of love.
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 14, 2012
    I hate to admit this but it took me forever to figure out what BTW meant. I didn't want to ask anyone since it seemed everyone used it and understood it. Finally, it hit me one day.
  • Z Z on Aug 14, 2012
    There's another one that has a K in it that I can never remember what it is. Just Google the acronym and you won't have to ask. Oh and BTW means Be there Wednesday, right? ;^P
  • TaniaC TaniaC on Aug 15, 2012
    Becky and Donna I am so with ya on those ones i also thought for the longest time that LOL meant Lots of love so to everyone that thought I was laughing at them Sorry.>:^) He he! and My sister in law loves to text which I'm not one for it all and I have one of those old flip up cell phones and find myself erasing more messages than texting ...I can't see those itty bitty little buttons... I've tried to steal hubbies cell cause he has the keyboard on his and it is much easier to find the letters and faster...and I also had no idea for the longest time what BTW meant either. I just find myself when some one text me I normally reply with K and then the conversation just usually ends LOL! cause I'm too lazy to right a book and would rather talk to the other person on the phone than text.... Can you imagine me trying to text someone this conversation I am having ...The person would probably get it 2 days later as slow as I am LOL!..:)♥.... Be there Wednesday I love that Becky...:)
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 15, 2012
    What's bad is when someone texts you and then it takes half an hour to write a short response back and then their response come back in seconds! I'm slow on it and I have the keyboard. I always get my daughter's old cell phones and she gets the upgrades! I think she thinks I can handle the new ones. Which is about right! Like you, I use "K" a lot! The letters are small and my thumbs don't move that fast. It's Wednesday, so I guess y'all are there! LOL!
  • Z Z on Aug 15, 2012
    Oh texting! Though it does come in handy now and then, like when we text our daughter that we're wanting to Skype (she lives in Hawaii), or when our son is at work and can't answer the phone, but can check his text and call us when he's on break. But when whole conversations are expected via text? No thank you! A two minute conversation can last a half hour. When I see that happening I just reply "call me". And though I try and use short cuts when I do text, I find it wrong. I'm a teacher at heart and find that if you don't practice good grammar and spelling everywhere in your life you're not going to learn or forget what you learned. Yes, I'm old enough that I think full words are more important than saving my fingers a few clicks on the keyboard. I rarely use any shortcuts except about laughing or for names of stores. aka L's and HoDe. I started doing that when another site I belonged to turned store names into links for that place of business. Very annoying. If they allowed smiley faces here I would use them though.
  • Donna R Donna R on Aug 15, 2012
    I agree, Becky. Short cut ways to spell words worries me for the future generation. Also not learning to write cursive, typing with thumbs, it all bothers me. I know it's technological progress but still there are some basics that I think everyone needs to learn. Nothing beats a hand-written letter. Instead of saying, "she writes beautifully in cursive", will the future generations say, "my grandmother always picked a pretty font"!
  • Z Z on Aug 15, 2012
    I figured I wasn't the only one Donna. Technology can be awesome as long as it doesn't lower our IQs in language skills. Without them we'll be in a sad sad state of affairs. I had to laugh at your grandmother comment. LOL Too funny, but oh so true. I find my handwriting has failed over the years since I type more often.
  • Trish M Trish M on Aug 17, 2012
    My Guess iz it's a paddle to a Very large Dough Mixer...or Old fashioned Beater..kinda Looks Like it was meant to Whip or beat something from a Small Motor install Like a Mixer...kinda looks like The Ones in My Grandma's Bakery...
  • Lucy Campbell Lucy Campbell on Mar 23, 2013
    It looks like the thing that was inside the cylinder that my parents would make ice cream in. It would then be put inside a big barrel that had ice and salt and the men would churn the cylinder until the mixture inside was frozen.
  • BethThomas BethThomas on Mar 23, 2013
    at first glance I thought it was a stirring paddle of some kind also. The sharp pointed end may rule that out.... just not real sure!
  • Lucy Campbell Lucy Campbell on Mar 24, 2013
    The point at the top would have fit into a hole in the top of the lid of the cylinder I think. To hold it so that it would turn with the mechanism from the handle.
  • Sharron Abrams Sharron Abrams on Mar 24, 2013
    I agree with Beth Thomas - but the pointed end looks like the reason that it was discarded because it was worn out - look at your blender and the end that goes into the mixer - I love antiques and this to me works.
  • Tammy Tammy on Mar 25, 2013
    Hi! I actually saw something similar today at a unique little thrift store here today... I was curious enough to ask and was told by the owner that it was used in the early years to beat the rugs outside to get rid of the dust. Idk something to ponder.
  • Anne Scott Anne Scott on Apr 02, 2013
    Looks kind of like the beater part of a hand crank ice cream maker to me. ??
  • Elaine Dietrich Elaine Dietrich on Apr 02, 2013
    We have one of these that has been in the family for 3 generations. It is a tile ditch spade. The pointed end actually went into the end of a wooden handle, just like a modern spade. The reason it is open is because when men put tile in the fields in the 30's and 40's, it was wet, swampy soil and each slab of soil easily came off this spade since there was no steel to stick to. My dad-in-law said that 3 men would each have one, so the trench would be 3 "spades" deep, and then they would have a 4 guy clean out the ditch with a crumber before setting the clay tile down in the bottom.
  • TaniaC TaniaC on Apr 16, 2013
    Ha... a lot of good Suggestions... Thanks For all your Input..:)
  • Diane Navarro Tippetts Diane Navarro Tippetts on Feb 03, 2015
    Blade for a butter churn