Hello from Hazard!
Well, no one is exactly sure what Item No. 657 is used for, so we’ll give you the best educated guesses and then move on.
John Kusch, who submitted the photo, gave us the best answers he received from friends polled before he submitted the mystery item to Hazard A Guess. There was one match with a reader, so maybe that’s our best guess. One of Kusch’s friends and reader Sam E. Hershberger agree it looks like a bee smoker used to work around bee hives.
Other could-be-this ideas from his friends or our readers included a seed sower (filled with seeds and used to scatter in a wide pattern) and, if the cone ends are threaded, a small, fireproof vault to roll important documents or papers.
Sorry, we can’t confirm Item No. 657, but a bee smoker might be the best guess of the slim pickings.
On to Item No. 658, which – yikes! – is another mystery.
Reader Harry Meyer Jr. of McDonald, Pa., was at a Kiko auction where this item was sold. Actually, there were two of them, both similar, about 6 1/2 feet long with what appears to be a pointed cast iron head. No one at the auction knew what it was (gee, what did it bring, I wonder).
There is manufacturing marking midway near the handles, but I’ll save that hint until we’re really stuck.
Think you know what it might be used for? Send your answers to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460; or via e-mail to: editorial@farmanddairy.com.
Until next week…
