Tools from a time gone by

tagwex · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 9:21 pm Post subject: Tools from a time gone by

I found these hanging on a wall in an unused room of a hotel I was working on recently. I was particularly intrigued by the wooden sprong, for want of a better a word. I have a theory but I will wait until you all have a say. It is about 4 foot long.

Ado 2 · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 3:35 pm Post subject:

Wild guess. First one for planting potatoes. Eating bowls and rolling pin secondly. Last one hand fork., for harvesting ! !

kindredspirit · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 8:45 pm Post subject:

Well, they certainly look interesting.

Are they genuinely old; is there any way of telling?

tagwex · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:36 pm Post subject:

The bowls and rolling pin we can forget about as they are self explanatory. The other two are so thin in their construction that they made me wonder what they were used for. The tynes on the sprong and blade on the shovel are only 4 or 5 mm thick.

Blowin · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 6:08 am Post subject:

If, repeat if, you think there may be a link between the sack and the items, Smith Potato Inc is a company from Hart Texas that still seems to be in existence according to the Internet. Started in1977 so you could drop them an email? Maybe worth millions.

tagwex · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 9:43 am Post subject:

No way of knowing how old they are but they certainly look it. Also there is evidence of a few repairs and wear and tear. I doubt that there is a connection with the sack. The room was full of old style bottles. clay jars, pictures, oil lanterns and copper pots and pans.

kindredspirit · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 4:08 pm Post subject:

Are the items in the room to be thrown out?
Because if they were I have a friend who would be delighted to take them.
He has an artisan museum full of old tools but he's always looking for more.
(Irish Old Ways Museum, Bruff.) Well worth visiting whenever you're in the area.

tagwex · Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2016 4:41 pm Post subject:

I doubt very much if they are to be thrown out. They are in an old style restaurant connected to a hotel undergoing refurbishment. The restaurant is acting as the construction office for the time being. The clay and glass bottles are stuck to the tops of the partitions between tables and may be broken to remove them. They should have used a silicone that would have held them firm yet be easily liftable. Shame really as if they ever do need to be removed they will have to be broken. Dozens of them.

tagwex · Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 7:39 am Post subject:

I thought that the wooden sprong was so thin in its construction that it could only be used with a liquid. I thought it might be used for buttermilk.