13 Ancient objects whose purposes are curious or unusual

Have you ever been in that situation of finding an old object at your grandmother’s house that you don’t know what it’s for? Or go to a museum and try to guess what certain pieces displayed there were for?

Well, if you’ve ever had that kind of reaction, that’s fine. A lot of people go through this. In fact, many people have posted pictures of objects on the Internet whose function is totally ignored by many. But some know-it-alls, also on the Internet, end up helping and explaining what these objects were for.

For example, we found a pill made of metal that did not break down in the body and was recovered from the feces, being reused many times. We also came across an analog device to measure the volume of applause in auditorium programs and a kind of choker on which women put perfume. Super practical.

O awesome.club selected a small collection of old accessories that had very curious features.

Object of the photo, resembling a horn, is a kind of ‘flower plant’ special for cars. The flowers not only served as a decorative element of the vehicle’s interior, but were also a natural air freshener, producing a pleasant aroma.

These planters could be found in automobiles manufactured during the first half of the 20th century. Some people, however, still use this type of object.

This miniature golf club was used for cocktails. However, unlike modern plastic or wooden sticks, this one was reusable. It had ‘tentacles’ at the tip for those cases where a person wanted to pick up an olive or a cherry without having to be impolite.

Young people may never have used or seen a dial phone, but older people certainly used these old devices a lot. This retro item was placed on the end of a pen or pencil and made the task easier for those who preferred not to use their fingers to dial the number (for example, women with freshly painted nails).

By the way, where do you think the expression ‘dial’ a number came from? Yes to connect using the disk of the old devices. The expressions are still valid today and are present, for example, in the acronym ‘DDD’, for Direct Distance Dialing.

In addition to the worldwide known abacus, in the past there were also other devices for performing arithmetic calculations: for example, this round mechanical calculator called “Optima”, which was manufactured in Germany in 1900.

Before the arrival of refrigerators, there was an entire industry dedicated to the sale of bar ice. During the winter, in countries where temperatures are very low, the ice was collected and stored to be sold in the form of blocks. The hook in the image served both to separate a piece of ice from the block and to move it without touching it.

If you’ve seen, somewhere, a spoon like this one in the Victorian style photo and were surprised by its strange shape, now you know that its use was exclusively for just one product, precisely ice cream.

This mechanical washing machine was a toy for children. Probably, some children washed their dolls’ clothes in this machine.

According to the author of the photo, this watch belonged to a woman who was passionate about travel. The article is very safe and an excellent option for travelers: it is difficult to break and no batteries are needed. Only, of course, it doesn’t work on cloudy days.

The British made toast long before the invention of electrical devices. One of the ways to make toast was with this kind of wide fork: they skewered slices of bread and placed them on the charcoal in the oven.

This antique choker served both as an ornament and as a container for storing perfume. It seems that our ancestors knew how to combine beauty and functionality perfectly.

As the author of this photo recounted, he found this rather frightening object under the floor of a house built in the early 19th century. But don’t think it’s a medical tool or torture device, everything is much simpler. In fact, this thing was only designed to remove the shells of hard-boiled eggs.

Perhaps the strangest piece of our selection is ‘the eternal tablet’, which was filled with antimony, in order to be reused many times over. That is, you took it, recovered between stools and then took it again, as many times as necessary.

For several centuries, this stuff was considered an excellent way to cleanse the body and, for some reason, no one was concerned that, when taking this pill, the body was not digesting, leaving the body exactly as it came in.

People bought an “eternal pill” for the whole family. And the most surprising thing is that this dubious remedy was passed from generation to generation. So, would you face it?

The applausemeter was used in the 1950s and 1960s, when television programs appeared that featured great talent and in which dance competitions and freshman shows were held. Of course, it was possible to simply listen and determine the winner, but unlike the human ear, the device was far more impartial.

Do you know other old and interesting articles? Share with us!