What the heck are these things?
July 27, 2012 6:47 AM   Subscribe

What the heck are these things?

I bought an antique sewing machine a few weeks ago and found a box of attachments. These three objects were in the box.

Object 1

Object 2

Object 3

The thing that says Wizard is three inches long. The other two objects are about an inch and a half long.

At first I thought they were just weird attachments, but I asked other antique sewing machine enthusiasts and they didn't think so. Apparently they're just random things that the previous owner kept.

Does anyone know what they are? I'm really curious now.
posted by christinetheslp to Grab Bag (11 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Wild guess, but #2 looks like a cuff clip.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:56 AM on July 27, 2012


Not too wild, there -- that appears to be exactly what it is. :)
#3 reminds me of a piece from a hook and eye set, but I've never seen one in quite that shape.
posted by litlnemo at 7:16 AM on July 27, 2012 [1 favorite]


Well, I have no basis for this, but #3 looks like a key to me, actually, a tool rather than an attachment. The loop on the bottom reminds me of those that you see on hex keys now. It could be an instrument for adjusting....something? On that though, is it possible #1 is also a tool, for marking or cutting?
posted by epanalepsis at 7:20 AM on July 27, 2012


#3 sort of looks like the key used to open a can of spam back in the day. Here's one photo. It could be used like that, though probably for something else. I've also seen similar things for toothpaste tubes, to roll out every last drop. Those are usually a bit simpler though.
posted by jwells at 7:31 AM on July 27, 2012


Could #1 have something to do with making buttonholes? A placeholder of sorts?
posted by scratch at 8:51 AM on July 27, 2012


Wizard was a brand of sewing machine sold by Western Auto (sort of like Kenmore/Sears). The same company in Japan that made Wizard sewing machines also made those sold under the Brother label. Do you have the model number/year of the machine you purchased?
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:12 AM on July 27, 2012


#1 seems to be ornamented with a representation of a horseshoe.
posted by Good Brain at 10:30 AM on July 27, 2012


Response by poster: Thanks for the answers so far, everyone! I think that MonkeyToes is correct that #2 is a cuff clip. How awesome!

The machine is a Singer model 27 from 1901. The attachments are also from 1901, but I found thread, fabric scraps, and other sewing notions in the drawers that seemed to date up until the late 1950s. So the mystery objects could be from anywhere in that 50 year time span. The woman I bought it from said that she got it from her mother, and her mother got it from the woman's grandmother, but the contents of the drawers had been mostly undisturbed since the grandmother stopped using it.
posted by christinetheslp at 11:30 AM on July 27, 2012


If you don't have any luck here, you might try submitting to the What is it? Blog.
posted by jocelmeow at 1:27 PM on July 27, 2012


Even if you do find out what they are, submit it to the What is it blog. They're fascinating pieces.

Good Brain's right, that does look like an ornamental horseshoe on the first one.

There are horse bits that have what they call a 'tongue spoon' that keeps the horse from getting his tongue over the bit, and the spoon looks similar to that piece, but every one I've seen has been part of the bit. Unless this was designed to be attached to something else....

I'm itching with curiosity to know what it is and what it's for!
posted by BlueHorse at 2:00 PM on July 27, 2012


Could #3 have been used to construct or hold a pleated fold?
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:23 AM on July 28, 2012


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