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These 16 Unusual Items Were Total Mysteries — Until The Internet Solved Them
By Kelley Greene,
12 days ago
The world seems to have a never-ending supply of weird little doohickeys and thingamabobs that people find but can't quite identify. Luckily, thanks to the r/whatisthisthing subreddit, we no longer have to wonder. Here are 16 recent finds posted to the sub and what they turned out to be:
1. This large, old-looking wooden item:
2. This unusual sewing needle:
3. This glass dome with small spikes on one side:
4. This porous cube found in the deep sea:
5. This big hunk of stone that was found in the bottom of a lake in Northern Maine:
6. These glass figurines in a carrying case:
7. This round disc found at the bottom of the sea:
"FB Minden might stand for "Feuerbestattung" Minden - Minden crematory. I think you stumbled over a chamotte marker from a crematory that was used to track the identity of a body as it turned to ashes and was buried at sea."
The original poster, u/tinaa26 , replied back, "Thank you. I was assuming it might be something like that when I Googled it. I will put it back in the sea."
Then the original poster, u/RIPTrixYogurt , replied back, "Solved! Looks like it is specifically the 'Looky Lipstick Mirror' from the '50s, that was quick. Thanks!"
"Those are tongs that have just been straightened. It may be used for sugar cubes or bread rolls. The ends look like they could follow a silver tableware set motif."
"Yup. Someone flattened them out. We had a similar pair that had gone through a disposal and were curled up like a wood shaving. Sugar cube tongs, to be specific. Google vintage silver sugar tongs."
13. Small metal boxes containing a brush located on gravestones in a cemetery in Andermatt, Switzerland:
"The metal box is called 'Weihwasserkessel' in German, roughly translated as 'holy water kettle' in English. It is for storing holy water, and the brush is for dispensing it on the grave. It is very common in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Maybe other places, too, but I haven't been to graveyards in other countries."
14. This one-off tiny pocket inside a St. John's Bay shirt:
"It's a 'nurse's' pocket...Essentially, it’s a loophole for manufacturers to bring costs down.
If garments have 'pockets below the waist, a ribbed waistband or other means of tightening at the bottom of the garment,' they get excluded from specific categories. So if you took that same type of blouse with a 26.9% duty rate and added a pocket or two below the waist, it would instead get tariffed at a rate of 16%."
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