Hello from Hazard!
So, you weren’t all asleep after all. Ruth and Ted Anielski of Killbuck, Ohio, knew Hazard fans wouldn’t disappoint their son, Jonathan, when he asked them about a gadget he found. They were right. We promptly heard from several readers, who told us Item No. 651 is a nail or tack puller.
Reader Dave Smith estimates it’s from around 1905 or 1906. (But don’t feel bad, because Smith had to ask his father what it was, too.) Smith, who has one from his father, explains how it works: The hook part is put, or gouged, under the nail head. The handle is then squeezed onto the head to hold the nail, then it is pulled out.
Reader Art Bilek of Norton, Ohio, adds the tool was used by upholsters to remove fabric tacks used on furniture, and Paul Maurer of Wadsworth, Ohio, says it was also used to pull out carpet tacks of rugs in the days before wall-to-wall carpet. Maurer, who is 95, recalls his family using the tool to pull out the carpet tacks when it was time to take the carpet up to hang on the clothesline to beat out the dirt. “It was my job to beat until no more dust came out!”
And we also heard correctly from Sandra Forster of Bristolville, Ohio; Bob Willard of Ravenna, Ohio; and Barry Cornell of Gnadenhutten, Ohio.
Our next item comes from longtime Hazard reader, Wayne Cooper of Fombell, Pa. Do you know what it is?
Send your answers to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460, or via e-mail: editorial@farmanddairy.com.
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