Just turn them upside down and open them, then insert a roll of paper towel and tada, you have yourself a brand new paper towel holder that is not only beautiful, but has history and meaning!
Wow! Michael & Phil got it ! Michael nailed the name as well! Steve, you are too young to remember, so am I actually but when my father was building our lake house we used to go by boat to an ice house & they would bring us block of ice & carry it with the block grapple. That block of ice lasts a lot longer than a bag of ice due to the density & size. Great job guys, thank you that was fun! We found a new use for an old grapple, RE-PURPOSED! Whoa!
These may have originally been used for ice blocks. But we use 2 sets of them to help haul out old railroad ties. They are perfect for grabbing, pulling, and carrying those old and heavy railroad ties as we haul them out of people's yards.
My Grandfather and I used these when we went to the Atlanta Ice company to get blocks of ice for making ice cream. We used an ice pick to chip the ice to fit around the churn and would have to crank the churn for a couple of hours. Oh, what fond memories!
Like many people have already said they are ice tongs for carrying blocked ice but you can repurpose them in many ways. I personally love it when people use items from the past in a new inventive way such as an old hay hoist as a light in your living room by using an extension cord as the "rope" and the light bulb as the "hook".
And here I thought that they were some form of colonial belt and suspenders systems. You put the pointed end in your ears and the bottom loops are for looping the front of your belt so that your pants don't slide down. Remember that belts had to support guns and other items. Sure it could be painful but then again so were heels.
They are ice tongs. "Back in the day" people bought ice from an ice house or country store. The ice was delivered in big blocks weighing several hundred pounds. A person would chip off a 'hunk' of ice, say 50 pounds, and the tongs were used to carry the ice to its destination-usually the back end of a pickup truck.
Ice tongs. Growing up in Philly, I remember a woman who lived on our street still had an "ice box" and the ice man would deliver blocks of ice and used tongs that looked like these. He use to throw us kids a few big "chips" and we'd suck on them for a while!!
I have one of them and have wondered for years how much it is worth. I bought mine years ago at my aunts antique store for just a couple dollars. I used it for a paper towel holder too, but it held the towels too tight, had to use both hands to get a piece off. Not real handy. But wouldn't get rid of it.
Well Lee Anne, looks like the over-whelming consensus is you've got yourself a genuine antique Charmin or Bounty holder!!! LOL Things like that are so neat though. The sad thing is that my grandkids generation and maybe even our kids wouldn't have a clue!!!
I had an Ice Box when I was a kid and Ice was delivered , they would use the Ice Tongs to carry the ice into the house, lots of drips too.. My Mom was always wiping up behind the ice man.. He would give all the kids a chunk of ice to eat after he was done..Sometimes we would run behind his truck till he stopped and gave us some ice..Good Ole days!!
They are antique ice tongs.They were used to pick up blocks of ice for old refrigerators. An ice wagon would travel the neighborhoods selling and delivering the blocks.
Yes, I remember the ice man carrying ice up the stairs when we lived in Chicago,,,ages ago....Even remember the card that mom put in the window to tell him how much to bring..Also the coal man...
As others stated, they are ice tongs. As a kid I remember my parents going to the ice house to get a block of ice. Then they used an ice pick and hammer or something similar, to break the ice into pieces and put them in an ice chest to keep fish cold when we went fishing. I happen to have one of these but it's just in the garage and don't think I'll use it for anything. It couldn't be made into anything I'd use in my house.
@Brenda Cooley That's what I thought initially too...The 2 are very similar. This one seems a little more square and wide, so I'm guessing that those who said they are ice tongs are probably right.
When I was a (city) kid, we had a red headed "Ice Man" who would deliver the large blocks of ice, right into the kitchen and put them in the Ice Box (non-electric fridge). He'd use the tongs to get the ice block from his truck and sling it up onto his shoulder, and had a thick towel over his shoulder to protect his shoulder and shirt. The ice blocks were heavy. We always looked forward to his coming, and sometimes we'd go to the Ice House where we stored meat that we had had butchered. They rented out space in their freezer section. This was back in the 1940's.
At our house he carried ice up to the 2nd floor and put it in the box.You had a reversable card you put in your window to let him know how much you needed each time.Someone had to empty to drip tray under the box, so as not to overflow.What a job.
We had an icebox before electric fridge. Ice block sat in bottom to keep contents cool. Ice blocks were cut from frozen river & layered with straw to use in spring, summer & fall. A tray to collect water under ice had to be emptied regularly. Young men with strong bodies delivered the blocks to homes etc.
YEPPERS and Ice block clamp...the ice man used one to pick them up...watch Lassie..LOL We had one...it hung in the basement...ice block fridge was now a protane refrigerator. Winds took out power our too often to rely on electricity. A long time ago..
Ice tongs is correct.....Back in the day, Ice was delivered in huge blocks by wagons. these tongs were used to pick the huge blocks up and put into the "ice box" prior to the refrigerators coming on the scene..
Ohhhh my,I can't imagine this near my nether parts! @culpepper.....can you? And I certainly wouldn't use it for decoration if it was forceps. Glad to know these are for ice. How did this thread get renewed from 2012? Interesting!
Long before we had conveyor belts invented, the guys had to get big blocks of ice from one place to the next. These Ice Tongs were used to hold on to the block in order to move it from place to place. When I was a child my grandparents had an "ice" box. A block of ice was put on the top shelf inside the icebox. Because cold air moves to the bottom everything was kept cool. Things were kept cool unless you had about 20 grandchildren who had never seen something like that and wanted to get a piece of ice to suck on. Good memories.
Ice tongs..I have two pair.....great for moving logs or railroad ties...carry in wood in for the fire place...they have been used for all of these at our house....
They are tongs used to carry ice. Before refrigerators, people used ice boxes to keep their food cold. The ice man used the tongs to carry the big blocks of ice from the truck. He put the ice blocks in the ice box, people ordered the number of ice blocks they needed and paid a set fee for each block of ice.
At first I thought they might be used to put bales of hay into a barn. They called it bucking bales and was a very hard job. And then I also thought they were ice tongs and that is probably what they are. That is a very clever way to use them for the paper towels.
Actually, hay hooks look sort of similar to half of these ice tongs. There was usually a wooden handle and the metal was kind of flattened, so the wood would go into the palm of the hands and the metal went between the fingers. My dad grew alfalfa, which was baled into hay, so I saw plenty of hay hooks when I was a kid.
Thanks Diann Merritt Morales, I am so glad you corrected me. One I saw the picture I remember those too. Yes those must have been ice tongs. I lived in the country but we did not have bales but I did see a lot of the neighbors putting bales of hay in their barns. I guess I just do not know everything. LOL
These were used when ice boxes were still in use; before refrigerators came on the scene. The iceman would bring a chunk of ice into your kitchen using these tongs. While he was doing that, kids would steal small pieces of ice off his wagon to cool down on a hot day. Usually the wagon was horse drawn.
I can still remember the ice man delivering ice for our ice box in a third floor walk-up apartment in New York City in the late 1940's. I know we also had coal delivered but I don't remember it being carried up three flights of stairs. Maybe it was delivered while I was at school and less frequently than the ice,
Absolutely remember the iceman delivering ice to our back door using these tongs to carry it . He had a folded gunny sack or piece of leather over his shoulder and depending on size of block of ice, would grab the block from his truck using the tongs, sling the block over his shoulder and carry it to our back door. We had a metal sign which ice man could see from his truck, indicating the size of block we wanted him to deliver. Sign was kind of octgon shaped with numbers on each angle representing the weight of ice blocks, ie, 25 lbs etc. Whichever number was in the top position would be what ice man would deliver. In the summer he would often 'accidently' drop a small block of ice which we kids would always run to his truck to get a chunk of to cool us off..
LOL I could never use them. I had bad sciatica once and told my doctor that it felt like someone was taking a pair of ice tongs and trying to rip off the left side of my "lower back" with it! It's exactly like I pictured it in my head!
They are called ice tongs. We used to have to haul ice from the lake and haul it home, melt it down in the resavoir on our kitchen stove. We first had to saw the ice into big blocks, force them down in the water and grab them quick with the tongs when they bobed back up. Most people hauled the ice back to their farm or place of business on a bob sleigh pulled with a team of horses. Remember the big ice houses the railroads had. They packed them full of ice to use in refrigeration cars in the summer months. Sawdust was used to pack around the blocks of ice to keep them frozen.
Before refrigerators, ice men drove around in trucks selling blocks of ice for ice boxes. Blocks were 25 or 50 lbs. these tongs were used like clamps to carry these blocks of ice.
Many years ago, before electric refrigerators, homeowners had ice delivered to their homes and the delivery person used these type of tongs to bring the blocks of ice inside and put them into the ICE BOX!!!
My dad was an iceman in Iowa City,Iowa as I was growing up.....children following the truck...just to get a small chunk of ice during the hot summer weather...........
Ice tongs which were used when wagons used to deliver huge ice blocks to homes. The ice sat on hay on the back of a wagon and the iceman brought it to your kitchen and put the ice in the bottom of your Icebox (refrigerator). My mom told me she and her twin sister used to run after the wagon and hold out their hands to catch the ice shavings as if flew of the back of the wagon. It's hot in Alabama and I know that was a treat for the no- air-conditioned days.
...another creative use for these would be for local highway departments to situate and harness a worker in the back of their pick-up truck and use these tongs to snatch raccoons and possums that unfortunately got hit - all while the pick-up drive maintains a steady and safe speed. For other animals like very large deer this would not be effective. Shovels would still be needed for those that were run-over multiple times.
I remember the ice man making a delivery at the corner grocery store. He always wore a leather cover on his shoulder to protect himself from the cold ice blocks. Ice can also get an edge on it that can cut. He used to give us kids the large chunks that got chipped off.
Ice tongs! I hail from the northeast and these were used when the river was frozen during "cutting ice" season. The tongs were used to carry big blocks of the ice to be used for refrigeration many years ago.
I can go back farther in history......when you lived out in the country, a distance from the ice plant you would make that your last stop before you started home. 100# block would be placed on the bumper of the old car, wrapped and covered in blankets and away you would hurry home before tooooooo much melted. Then you used the ice tings to put in the ice box.
Back before there were refrigerators, there were ice boxes. They were generally oak. The top opened and a block of ice was placed inside the tin-lined container. Below this was the part which held your items which needed to be kept cool. There was a sign you placed in your front window with the upper number being the number of pounds of ice you needed for the iceman to bring. These tongs opened so the "teeth" held the block of ice which he delivered.
The Tongs are Antique Cast Iron ice Tongs. If for some reason you decide that you do not want them, I am sure that you can sell the tongs to someone whom would enjoy having them in their home.
They truly are a piece of History and are well worth keeping.
Those are Ice tongs. Blocks of ice were delivered to each house to keep food from going bad. Later they were put into refrigerators. that was before electricity was use to keep food cold. Era 1900 or so.
Yep they are ice tongs. I was born and raised in SW Virginia I was 12 years old before I knew there was such a thing as refrigerators lol. I have 2 sets of these, one set was my grand parents and the other was my parents. We always hithed old John to the wagon and went to the ice plant on Saturdays to get ice for the week. We also had a spring house we kept milk cream and butter in. One pair of these hangs on my kitchen wall along with my grandmothers washboard and her homemade cooking utensils.
Tongs to pick up large blocks of ice. Back in the '50's our neighbor still had an ice box and the ice man would come once a week to deliver blocks to her. In the summer, we neighbor kids would stand around the ice truck and he'd throw off some big ice chips for us to suck on for relief from the sweltering Philly heat.
Yep sure remeber them the ice truck would come by once a week and us kids would go get up in the truck when the man took the ice in the house and we would get chips of ice , I still have the gravel in my knee when I fell out lol I think I was about 5 years old 1941 or 42
I grew up in Cleveland in the 30's and 40's. The Ice was collected in the winter on the shores of Lake Erie and stored in the Ice Factory along Lake Shore Blvd. We didn't have a refrigerator until the early 1940's. Also, as a side note, salt blocks were also gathered from Lake Erie and used for Cow licks on the farms. I remember taking some to our friends on a farm in Mt Galid. Boy does this take me back to a happy time.
Oops showing my age . It's an ice pick for chucks of ice from a truck for freezers which were called boxes hence the name. If not sharp any more hang from tree I use memory wire(forbracelets & necklaces jewelry in aisle) just hook end and bead to end of lenght you desired . Bend end into hook attach large spacers from hard ware store to each wire hung . Make sure ends are closed. Weight of spacers will weigh down memory wire. Must use memory wire cutter or stringcutter from husband , wire will ruin any other wire cutters
Ice tongs - I have one just like it and had it hanging on the wall in the basement at one time. I have seen people use them as paper towel holders and they looked great. Would leave it black as it other colors would take away from historic meaning of the item.
the are ice tongs, they were used for moving ice blocks. My grandmother use to tell me about them cutting ice from the river in the winter and using these to carry and move the ice around. She had a couple of sets of them in her home. They would cut the ice in the winter and store it in special designed "barns" and people would use the ice in their ice boxes (prior to the invention of the modern refrigerator)
It's a set of tongs, used back in the days when refrigeration didn't use Freon or whatever, food was kept fresh with the cool of the ice. Ice boxes, we had one when I was little.
They are Ice Tongs. When we were going on a trip we would stop at the Ice House and my Dad would get a block to put in the cooler. I also saw one that had been altered, by a blacksmith, to be used for lumber. The claws were opened up to the correct width and then were welded in that position. Then one of the handles was removed by the blacksmith. You had a very good replica of one of those log grippers, or rollers, what ever they were/are called
Before refrigeration, big blocks of ice would be delivered to your house to put in a big metal refrigerator type box, or concrete ice cellars...the delivery man would use these ice tongs/picks to pick the ice off the truck and carry into your cold storage area. My great grandparents had an above ground cold house where blocks of ice kept perishables cold.
It appears to be tongs that an ice delivery service used to deliver the ice for our 1940's icebox. The block of ice would sit under the icebox to keep it cold. He ice man would grab the ice between the two pointed ends and then carry inside holding it with the one hand with the oblong loop. My gosh that takes me back more than 60 years.
Sure do! They are Ice Tongs. I remember, as a little girl, our "Ice man" coming through our house carrying a big block of ice, then putting it in the bottom part of our ice box. They weren't called Refrigerators in those days!
these are ice tongs---used by ice houses to move ice around and by the ice delivery man (years gone by) to carry ice from truck to inside the home to the original Ice Box, which worked very well to keep food safe!!!!
Before refrigerators had freezers, the iceman delivered ice to homes in huge blocks and used these tongs to carry the ice. I have a set myself. Have seen pictures where people have hung them on the wall and used as paper towel holders....very cute.
Ice tongs! I remember the ice man coming to our house with a new block of ice when I was 5 years old. We never locked a door, so he always came in the kitchen door, and you never knew when he would appear! Can you imagine that now?
children (boys that is) used to get chips of ice from the blocks; courtesy of the nice ice man. House wives would hang cardboard (pre printed) signs in their front door windows saying how many lbs they wanted. A different amount on each of the four sides of the sign. In the house we own, the original owner (born in my bedroom in 1908) told me that where our d.w. is now, once stood the ice box and the ice man could fill it from an opening outside.
They're 'ice tongs'. A hundred years ago 'ice boxes', the fore runners of refrigerators, used a block of ice to keep things cold. The ice was delivered to your door. The guy would throw a piece of leather over his back, use the ice tongs to throw the ice block up on his back and deliver it to your apartment.
Yep, ice tonges! I’ve been using a pair for a paper towel holder for manY years. Love to take antique pieces & use them for something entirely different than their original use!
Looks like Ice tongs.......in the old day, Ice house would deliver ice to homes and this is how they carried the block of ice..............kinda hard to tell how big they are in a picture...
tongs to carry blocks of ice, they must be very old. before the frig. there were ice boxes, blocks of ice were delivered to your home carried in on tongs and placed in your Ice box. could be wrong but when i saw them thats what crossed my mind.
That looks like the tool they used to pick up square chunks of ice to put in refrigerator to keep it cold before they had refrigeration like we do today. The Iceman used used to come around in a truck to deliver the ice. And I believe the ice chunks were cut out of the rivers and streams when they froze over.
Probably a new piece made to look like the old tongs used years ago when people had blocks of ice delivered to their homes. I had one I bought that was a paper towel holder. Kind of cool!
Working on giving the front porch some style going to underpin with wood box in the steps and repurpose the posts paint it all white sand the deck boards and give it... See more
I have some pretty floral paper plates I'd like to create something using. I'm not looking for craft ideas for children. Thinking something with mod podge but not... See more
Looks like you figured out what it is - or at least a clever way to use it. Looks like some kind of blacksmithing tongs or something to me.
looks like an old piece that was used by blacksmith to grab hot metals. I dont know for sure but thats the first thing i thought of when i saw it
Ice Block grapple
Looks like an Ice cube holder from an old ice box.
Wow! Michael & Phil got it ! Michael nailed the name as well! Steve, you are too young to remember, so am I actually but when my father was building our lake house we used to go by boat to an ice house & they would bring us block of ice & carry it with the block grapple. That block of ice lasts a lot longer than a bag of ice due to the density & size. Great job guys, thank you that was fun! We found a new use for an old grapple, RE-PURPOSED! Whoa!
Did you see this thread? From 2012 coming back to life! How are things going with you? Still busy?
These may have originally been used for ice blocks. But we use 2 sets of them to help haul out old railroad ties. They are perfect for grabbing, pulling, and carrying those old and heavy railroad ties as we haul them out of people's yards.
Wow, that means they are strong & do not break with heavy weight.
Looks as though it has multiple uses, for logs to put in the fire and also the hot ones to remove??
Looks like ice tongs....not that I am old enough to have ever used them!
ice tongs
Ye they are ICE THONGS, My Dad used them for the ice box when I was very little..
Yup ice tongs...some folks have tried to use them to carry haybales around with as well.
Tim S, howdy! You and I just missed the "Ice box" age. I do have a real antique one though.
My Grandfather and I used these when we went to the Atlanta Ice company to get blocks of ice for making ice cream. We used an ice pick to chip the ice to fit around the churn and would have to crank the churn for a couple of hours. Oh, what fond memories!
ice tong
no doubt. Ice tongs.
firewood tongs or ice tongs
Those are ice tongs that they used to use in the "olden days" to pick up a block of ice.
Like many people have already said they are ice tongs for carrying blocked ice but you can repurpose them in many ways. I personally love it when people use items from the past in a new inventive way such as an old hay hoist as a light in your living room by using an extension cord as the "rope" and the light bulb as the "hook".
If they were larger, that is what we used to lift bales of hay into the upper level of a barn. It was on a pulley system.
And here I thought that they were some form of colonial belt and suspenders systems. You put the pointed end in your ears and the bottom loops are for looping the front of your belt so that your pants don't slide down. Remember that belts had to support guns and other items. Sure it could be painful but then again so were heels.
looks like an antique ice block pick
And Kevin - YOU would be willing to demo this technique, RIGHT???
Sure Susan! You'll be my assistant for the demonstration right? :D
They are ice tongs. "Back in the day" people bought ice from an ice house or country store. The ice was delivered in big blocks weighing several hundred pounds. A person would chip off a 'hunk' of ice, say 50 pounds, and the tongs were used to carry the ice to its destination-usually the back end of a pickup truck.
Kevin V...funny! What an imagination! Love the re-purpose Leann...
These are ice tongs for carrying large chunks of ice that was used before refrigerators.
guess I should have read all the previous posts before posting ...
Ice tongs. Growing up in Philly, I remember a woman who lived on our street still had an "ice box" and the ice man would deliver blocks of ice and used tongs that looked like these. He use to throw us kids a few big "chips" and we'd suck on them for a while!!
My father used these as a "milkman" in Buffalo, NY so any years ago for his delivery truck. And I used to get big chips of ice to suck on also
Great memories of simpler times. Thank you all for sharing (:
Kevin - well of course Dawlinq!!! LOL : ~ )
My husband's father was an ice man. It looks like a tool he used to carry blocks of ice.
Yes, these are ice tongs
For picking up an ice block WAAAAAAY back when :)
I used a smaller one for toilet paper. Ice tongs.
Or to move bails of hay
i agree with ice tongs, but I like the idea for toilet paper
I have one of them and have wondered for years how much it is worth. I bought mine years ago at my aunts antique store for just a couple dollars. I used it for a paper towel holder too, but it held the towels too tight, had to use both hands to get a piece off. Not real handy. But wouldn't get rid of it.
lg ice block holder
Ice picker-upper.
An ice picker upper for when they delivered ice for the ice-box.
Showing my age here! I remember as a kid when the "ice man" came & use these to bring in a big block of ice for our "ice box"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GINNY, THIS ONE IS NOT TOO TIGHT AND WORKS WELL.
ice block hooks. Years ago ice men brought ice to home and put it into the ice box.
Well Lee Anne, looks like the over-whelming consensus is you've got yourself a genuine antique Charmin or Bounty holder!!! LOL Things like that are so neat though. The sad thing is that my grandkids generation and maybe even our kids wouldn't have a clue!!!
I had an Ice Box when I was a kid and Ice was delivered , they would use the Ice Tongs to carry the ice into the house, lots of drips too.. My Mom was always wiping up behind the ice man.. He would give all the kids a chunk of ice to eat after he was done..Sometimes we would run behind his truck till he stopped and gave us some ice..Good Ole days!!
They are antique ice tongs.They were used to pick up blocks of ice for old refrigerators. An ice wagon would travel the neighborhoods selling and delivering the blocks.
I use one of these as a paper towel holder in a cabin, its fun to re-purpose.
These are ice tongs, for carrying block ice from the lake to the ice house in the "old days".
Except for us city slickers, who had the ice toted up from a truck to the ice box.
I actually have an old oak ice box. It must weigh 200 pounds. I will take a photo and post it.
probably ice tongs from the days when "ice boxes" really were ice boxes,lol
Looks like the ice tongs that were used when you got ice in blocks from an ice house back in the day.
It looks like the tongs to pick up a large block of ice for a ice box
ice men used them long ago.
Yes, I remember the ice man carrying ice up the stairs when we lived in Chicago,,,ages ago....Even remember the card that mom put in the window to tell him how much to bring..Also the coal man...
As others stated, they are ice tongs. As a kid I remember my parents going to the ice house to get a block of ice. Then they used an ice pick and hammer or something similar, to break the ice into pieces and put them in an ice chest to keep fish cold when we went fishing. I happen to have one of these but it's just in the garage and don't think I'll use it for anything. It couldn't be made into anything I'd use in my house.
It's to pick up logs.
@Brenda Cooley That's what I thought initially too...The 2 are very similar. This one seems a little more square and wide, so I'm guessing that those who said they are ice tongs are probably right.
Yes,ice tongs!
look's like old ICE GRIPPER'S, ICE CARRIER'S FROM A ICE HOUSE. BLOCK'S OF ICE for the old "ICE BOX"
When I was a (city) kid, we had a red headed "Ice Man" who would deliver the large blocks of ice, right into the kitchen and put them in the Ice Box (non-electric fridge). He'd use the tongs to get the ice block from his truck and sling it up onto his shoulder, and had a thick towel over his shoulder to protect his shoulder and shirt. The ice blocks were heavy. We always looked forward to his coming, and sometimes we'd go to the Ice House where we stored meat that we had had butchered. They rented out space in their freezer section. This was back in the 1940's.
At our house he carried ice up to the 2nd floor and put it in the box.You had a reversable card you put in your window to let him know how much you needed each time.Someone had to empty to drip tray under the box, so as not to overflow.What a job.
I have one of these. Thinking about selling it. Anyone know what it's worth?
Looks like what they use for lifting ice blocks.
Looks like tongs that were used to pick up large block of ice back in the day before crushed ice machines.
We had an icebox before electric fridge. Ice block sat in bottom to keep contents cool. Ice blocks were cut from frozen river & layered with straw to use in spring, summer & fall. A tray to collect water under ice had to be emptied regularly. Young men with strong bodies delivered the blocks to homes etc.
THAT IS AN ICE CLAMP FROM WHEN PEOPLE OWNED ICE-BOXES INSTEAD OF FRIDGES.
YEPPERS and Ice block clamp...the ice man used one to pick them up...watch Lassie..LOL We had one...it hung in the basement...ice block fridge was now a protane refrigerator. Winds took out power our too often to rely on electricity. A long time ago..
Ice tongs is correct.....Back in the day, Ice was delivered in huge blocks by wagons. these tongs were used to pick the huge blocks up and put into the "ice box" prior to the refrigerators coming on the scene..
my husband has these and they are for picking up firewood after its cut. I've used them
ESA ES UNA PINZA CON LA QUE SE TOMAN LOS ANIMALES DE LAS NARICES PARA MOVERLOS
For blocks of ice...
ice tongs
Yes, ice tongs, I remember it well.....
Old-style baby delivery forceps. Pretty much 'out of style' nowadays.
@UpState Not hardly..wow. Ice tongs from when people had ice delivered for their "Ice Boxes" the precursors of refrigerators. https://www.google.com/search?q=old+fashioned+ice+box&biw=1223&bih=577&tbm=isch&imgil=Tu3r0-e_kWLS4M%253A%253B4XU3VlOUE0GX9M%253Bhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.pinterest.com%25252Fjayneperry%25252Fearly-ice-boxes%25252F&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Tu3r0-e_kWLS4M%253A%252C4XU3VlOUE0GX9M%252C_&usg=__BnnU3R-WQjuqYQk1siU8tyKMSco%3D&ved=0ahUKEwi_-ImilNTJAhUI7YMKHZs2DiUQyjcIUQ&ei=gPBqVr-4FYjajwSb7bioAg#imgrc=Tu3r0-e_kWLS4M%3A&usg=__BnnU3R-WQjuqYQk1siU8tyKMSco%3D
That's a very good and sensible use, too ! Thanks !
Ohhhh my,I can't imagine this near my nether parts! @culpepper.....can you? And I certainly wouldn't use it for decoration if it was forceps. Glad to know these are for ice. How did this thread get renewed from 2012? Interesting!
Good thing medical science had progressed, eh ?
Baby forceps are smaller & way different!!!
I'm now in the market for some of these...so clever.
Some older gynecologists may have some for sale since they use them very infrequently nowadays.
@UpState WINCE!
Yes, they are ice tongs...when people had ice delivered to their door.....I remember the ice man,......
definitely ice tongs. my cousin has our great-grandfather's. what a wonder repurpose, love the idea!
Ice tongs. Back in the day when ice was sold in blocks from the 'ice house'!
It is an ice tong. My Uncle sold ice in San Antonio in 1939 and carried blocks of ice to ice boxes in customers homes.
I'm pretty sure my father used his to move big logs into our large fireplace, but his childhood home definitely chilled with ice!
It's a log mover; but I like how you use it for paper towels.. cute idea and repurposing it to make it useful if you don't have a fire place!
It's used to handle blocks. When you only had an ice box, they delivered ice blocks using these ice tongs.
It looks like the tongs my aunt used to remove clinkers from her coal furnace.
It's an ice tong.
Ice tong
Old ice tongs
To carry blocks of ice when cut out of a lake.
Block ice tongs
huge ice thongs
You have the answer above but I agree , an Ice tong
I have one it was for carring ice blocks
"tongs" for firewood
It was used for blocks of Ice back in the day before refrigeration
Long before we had conveyor belts invented, the guys had to get big blocks of ice from one place to the next. These Ice Tongs were used to hold on to the block in order to move it from place to place. When I was a child my grandparents had an "ice" box. A block of ice was put on the top shelf inside the icebox. Because cold air moves to the bottom everything was kept cool. Things were kept cool unless you had about 20 grandchildren who had never seen something like that and wanted to get a piece of ice to suck on. Good memories.
Ice tongs..I have two pair.....great for moving logs or railroad ties...carry in wood in for the fire place...they have been used for all of these at our house....
They are tongs used to carry ice. Before refrigerators, people used ice boxes to keep their food cold. The ice man used the tongs to carry the big blocks of ice from the truck. He put the ice blocks in the ice box, people ordered the number of ice blocks they needed and paid a set fee for each block of ice.
At first I thought they might be used to put bales of hay into a barn. They called it bucking bales and was a very hard job. And then I also thought they were ice tongs and that is probably what they are. That is a very clever way to use them for the paper towels.
Actually, hay hooks look sort of similar to half of these ice tongs. There was usually a wooden handle and the metal was kind of flattened, so the wood would go into the palm of the hands and the metal went between the fingers. My dad grew alfalfa, which was baled into hay, so I saw plenty of hay hooks when I was a kid.
They are ice tongo used to move big blocks of ice
I come from a logging family and it looks like a log turner to me.
Thanks Diann Merritt Morales, I am so glad you corrected me. One I saw the picture I remember those too. Yes those must have been ice tongs. I lived in the country but we did not have bales but I did see a lot of the neighbors putting bales of hay in their barns. I guess I just do not know everything. LOL
These were used when ice boxes were still in use; before refrigerators came on the scene. The iceman would bring a chunk of ice into your kitchen using these tongs. While he was doing that, kids would steal small pieces of ice off his wagon to cool down on a hot day. Usually the wagon was horse drawn.
I can still remember the ice man delivering ice for our ice box in a third floor walk-up apartment in New York City in the late 1940's. I know we also had coal delivered but I don't remember it being carried up three flights of stairs. Maybe it was delivered while I was at school and less frequently than the ice,
Absolutely remember the iceman delivering ice to our back door using these tongs to carry it . He had a folded gunny sack or piece of leather over his shoulder and depending on size of block of ice, would grab the block from his truck using the tongs, sling the block over his shoulder and carry it to our back door. We had a metal sign which ice man could see from his truck, indicating the size of block we wanted him to deliver. Sign was kind of octgon shaped with numbers on each angle representing the weight of ice blocks, ie, 25 lbs etc. Whichever number was in the top position would be what ice man would deliver. In the summer he would often 'accidently' drop a small block of ice which we kids would always run to his truck to get a chunk of to cool us off..
LOL I could never use them. I had bad sciatica once and told my doctor that it felt like someone was taking a pair of ice tongs and trying to rip off the left side of my "lower back" with it! It's exactly like I pictured it in my head!
It is to pick up blocks of ice. But I really like what you are using it for.
To pick up blocks of ice
Use for picking. up block of ice
They are called ice tongs. We used to have to haul ice from the lake and haul it home, melt it down in the resavoir on our kitchen stove. We first had to saw the ice into big blocks, force them down in the water and grab them quick with the tongs when they bobed back up. Most people hauled the ice back to their farm or place of business on a bob sleigh pulled with a team of horses. Remember the big ice houses the railroads had. They packed them full of ice to use in refrigeration cars in the summer months. Sawdust was used to pack around the blocks of ice to keep them frozen.
It ia an ice block hauler.
Ice tongs. We used to cut blocks of ice in the lake and these were used to haul the block out and up onto the horse drawn sled.
I agree ice tongs.
Ice Tong
Before refrigerators, ice men drove around in trucks selling blocks of ice for ice boxes. Blocks were 25 or 50 lbs. these tongs were used like clamps to carry these blocks of ice.
I hung mine and put a pice of pvc pipe to slide the paper towel roll on. The cardboard gets stuck but with the pvc it rolls better.
Many years ago, before electric refrigerators, homeowners had ice delivered to their homes and the delivery person used these type of tongs to bring the blocks of ice inside and put them into the ICE BOX!!!
yes
log grabber
YES
Yes it was used to pick up heavy blocks of ice for the old fridges
ice tongs
Tongs to carry blocks of ice.
My dad was an iceman in Iowa City,Iowa as I was growing up.....children following the truck...just to get a small chunk of ice during the hot summer weather...........
My Dad also delivered ice blocks
Ice block tongs
I agree- they have to be old time ice tongs!
some used to grab hay bales
tongs to carry blocks of ice
Ice tongs which were used when wagons used to deliver huge ice blocks to homes. The ice sat on hay on the back of a wagon and the iceman brought it to your kitchen and put the ice in the bottom of your Icebox (refrigerator). My mom told me she and her twin sister used to run after the wagon and hold out their hands to catch the ice shavings as if flew of the back of the wagon. It's hot in Alabama and I know that was a treat for the no- air-conditioned days.
MY DAD USED THESE TO GRAB ICE BLOCKS BACK IN THE 40'S.
Unusual use for the tongs... I use mine in the fireplace since I've never actually seen the ice blocks!
Yes, it is an ice grasper......The ice man used it to move the ice inside the homes ice box from his ice truck.
is it what they used for ice blocks when ice was delivered?
Ice block tongs. I have one too and have seen them turned right-side up and hung or suspended for paper towel holders.
They used those to move blocks of ice back in the old ice plants . There was one near my house.
These can be ice tong, for the big blocks of ice. Or, wood tongs, for grabbing a hunk of wood to throw into the fire place.
You can do so many neat hinging things with them now.
tonges for large blocks of ice
These are vintage (or reproduction) ice tongs. Often used as a paper towel holder.
Ice tongs! Yes! ...and I think your paper towel use is very clever!
Caring ice blocks , before we had fridges
it is used to pick up large cubes of ice - like for old time refrigerators
This is for leading cattle around by the snout. Not very pretty used like scissors, how ever you close them by opening the handles.
no
It was used to carry a block of ice.
Looks like a tool for lifting ice blocks. In the old days the ice man delivered blocks of ice for ice boxes. Pre refrigerators
looks like a turn of a century ice block carrier..