Obsolete & Antique Tools Quiz

To use, clamp this device to a table edge, skewer an apple onto the prongs, and crank the arm. The blade will slice off a thin ribbon of skin as the apple rotates. The more uniformly round the apple, the better it works.

Table-top butter churns were popular for home use into the early 20th century. The corners of the glass jar help to agitate the heavy cream being churned.

Available in a range of different weights, these clubs were swung around the body as a form of deliberate exercise. This physical fitness method was most popular in U.S. the early 20th century and promoted improved coordination and rhythm.

This specialized slicer was used to efficiently shred heads of cabbage, especially in preparation for making sauerkraut, thus preserving it for future consumption.

Cold and drafty bedrooms were made a bit more bearable by carefully pre-warming the blankets using one of these devices filled with hot coals.

The name “brace and bit” refers to a hand driven tool used for boring holes in wooden boards. It is still used today by those interested in traditional woodworking methods.

Made of wood and sometimes intricately carved, these served as forms for pressing freshly-made butter into a consistent, convenient shape.

Electrically-driven “player pianos” became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most used spools of paper with patterns of perforated dots like this one to prompt the piano’s works to strike each note at the appropriate time.

Invented in the second half of the 19th century, these were used professionally and at home to provide close haircuts prior to the introduction of electric trimmers.

Before the wide spread use of electric refrigerators for cold storage, large blocks of ice were shipped south from Northern regions. Workmen used sharp tongs like these to handle the slippery cubes destined for residential “ice boxes.”