Today, let’s have a little game! What purpose did these vintage items serve, do you know? These enigmatic things, which range from strange equipment to unusual decorative pieces, may leave you perplexed. Don’t worry, though; try it and see if you can envision what people in earlier eras did with these fascinating objects.
Guessing Game: Are You Able to Recognize These Strange Items?
First Item: The Coin Gatherer
First up, we have a mixed-metal object with connectors on the sides and slots on top. Do you know what it was used for in the past?
You’re 100% correct if you assumed it was a coin collector! Conductors of trains and buses would deposit the fares into the slots and then pick up the neatly arranged coins from the bottom. They could fasten it to their belts using the hooks on the sides. Remarkably, a contemporary rendition of this is still in use at a few locations where admission is free of charge. Pretty smart, huh?
The Sand-Filled Swim Cap is item #2.
This is an intriguing cap with chin straps, a blue interior, and a feminine printed pattern. Would you want to guess? Here’s a hint: it has sand inside of it!
Actually, this peculiar headgear is an antique handmade swim cap. People used to love modeling swim caps after the aviatrix fashion trend back in the 1920s. However, home sewers had trouble finding rubber ingredients. They then devised a clever fix: the cap was filled with sand, and the channels and stitches were machine-sewn. Why the sand? As a water blocker, it lets swimmers select their own fabric pattern rather than being restricted to yellow or black rubber. Undoubtedly a novel strategy!
The Iron Flue Damper is item #3.
Now look at this iron object that has two stamps on it. Along an iron post with a spiraling end, the iron plate swivels. Any suggestions?
You’re exactly right if you assumed it to be an iron flue damper! Even though they are rarely seen, these iron flue dampers are still in use today. We enjoy finding unique artifacts that are a part of our past when we go antique shopping. It resembles going back in time!
The Victorian Shop Dispenser (Item #4)
Admire this metal box with a beveled glass front and elaborate gold stenciling. It even features a tiny sliding door with a dog picture on it. How do you suppose it was put to use?
Actually, this graceful box is a Victorian-style shop dispenser. It came in several sizes and was intended for bulk sales. This one had a label insert for gunpowder, but it may have also been used for bulk commodities like sugar or confectionery. Customers could see the quality of the products they were buying because to the glass front. Why was there a picture of dogs hunting? Well, since the purpose was to hold gunpowder exclusively, it’s merely an ornamental touch. This is a very fascinating essay, isn’t it?
The Cedar Butter Churn is item #5.
Take a look at this big wooden drum with a handle, a footed base, and a lid. There’s a crank on the side of it also. Any ideas about what it’s meant to accomplish?
This wooden drum is a butter churn made of cedar. To produce more butter, it was utilized. It says “Farm Master Dairy Supplies” on the other side. However, we didn’t want to reveal anything too quickly! Knowing about these antiquated gadgets truly transports us to a bygone era of ease.
The Soda Bottle Stand is item #6.
Look at this three-tiered metal stand for a moment. Each tier has a notch carved out of it. It is nearly four feet tall and supports itself on three legs. What was the purpose of it, do you suppose?
The purpose of this booth was to showcase Coke bottles—but not just any soda. Nehi purposely made it as part of their marketing strategy for their soda bottles. With their handy necks, the bottles fit well in the triangle shape with the notches. These stands used to be found in grocery stores and local stores during the Great Depression. They were really impressive!
There you have it, then! These enigmatic objects transport us through time and serve as a reminder of the inventiveness and resourcefulness of earlier generations. How many of those were accurate guesses, then?
Ed Sheeran’s wife was diagnosed with cancer while six months pregnant with couple’s second child
It’s sometimes easy to forget that celebrities, for all their riches and star power, are the same as the rest of us. As a result, they’re subject to the same joys and sorrows, the same heartbreaks and shocks and tough times in life.
Perhaps we would do well to remember that the next time we’re jumping into sensationalistic headlines and believing rumors that crop up without any evidence. Celebrities are people too, and challenging periods come for them as well.
Don’t believe us? You need only look as far as Ed Sheeran, whose wife was cruelly diagnosed with cancer last year while pregnant with the couple’s second child.
He’s known worldwide as one of the most successful music artists of his genration, but Ed Sheeran’s had more than his fair share of worry in the last couple of years.
As per reports, he and wife Cherry Seaborn have been married since 2019, having initially gotten together in 2015.
Yet their worlds were turned upside down last year when Cherry was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant. Compounding Sheeran’s sense of woe was the fact that his best friend died that same month.
Speaking in his Disney+ docu-series Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, Sheeran explained: “Cherry’s health, it was really bad, and then suddenly my best friend Jamal dies.
“You guys said, ‘Do you want to make a documentary?’ And I went, ‘Yeah, it should be me in the studio and we’ll play the gig.
“That’s not what the documentary is.”
The camera than cuts to Sheeran in floods of tears as he travels in the back of a car.
Sheeran’s wife Cherry revealed in the same documentary that doctors discovered a tumor in her arm during the sixth month of her pregnancy.
“I got diagnosed with cancer at the start of the year….,” she said. “It made me massively reflect on our mortality. I would never agree to do anything like this, but it made me think, ‘Oh if I died, what’s people’s perception of me? What do you leave behind?’”
She continued: “For Ed, the whole point is he wants to say to people, ‘I’m not just this music machine. I’m not just this robot that tries to get No. 1. I’m a father, I’m a son, I’m a friend.’ It wasn’t until this year when I was like, ‘I might die.’”
Following months of worry, Cherry successfully delivered she and her husband’s second child. She underwent successful surgery to address the tumor in her arm shortly thereafter.
We can’t begin to imagine the worry that must have gripped Ed Sheeran upon learning his wife had a tumor while pregnant. Thank God everything turned out okay.
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