Obsolete & Antique Tools – Level 2 (Medium)

Over the course of the 17th and 18th centuries shoe buckles were worn by various social classes of Europeans and Americans. They were made of sturdy metals like silver and brass, could be studded with precious stones, and varied in shape according changing fashions. Because shoe buckles are removable, they could be used with more than one set of cloth or leather shoes.

An ancestor of the “Viewmaster” toy, this “Holmes” style stereoscope was invented in 1861 as an improvement on precursor viewers which allow the user to experience still photos in 3D. The user looks through the eyepiece towards purpose-made photo cards which show pairs of images. The images depict slightly different angles of a given scene, which when viewed through the stereoscope creates the illusion of depth.

Once a ubiquitous fixture of main streets in towns large and small, hitching posts provided a sturdy place to tie your horse or oxen.

Sold in mail order catalogs alongside other personal care items such as nail files and hair brushes, button hooks were used in the late 1800s and early 1900s to speedily fasten small buttons on shoes and boots fashionable at the time.

The concept of a “calling card” today can be quite metaphorical (used to describe a distinctive attribute of an individual or their work), but they once existed as physical objects. Prior to widespread telephone access, calling cards with the name of the caller printed on them were exchanged as a part of formal etiquette when paying personal visits, or “calls,” to friends and acquaintances. This old social tool lives on today in commercial settings as “business” cards.

 The user holds this tool over their knuckles and thrusts it in a downward motion, striking a piece of flint (type of sedimentary rock). This motion can create a tiny spark with which to generate an ember in a combustible kindling material such as char cloth.

Combined with a knowledge of Morse Code and the additional wired infrastructure to communicate between devices, the telegraph instrument revolutionized long-distance communication.

An innovation that allowed kerosene fuel to be transformed into a light source far brighter than a simple open flame, “mantles” like this fit elegant oil lamps like those made by the Aladdin lamp company. Made from cloth bags infused with metal nitrates (the cloth burns away upon first use), lamp mantles are still used to produce intensely bright, non-electric light in Coleman-style lanterns.

In the present era of electric washers, it’s hard to believe this device was advertised as a labor-saving product, but vacuum clothes washers were an improvement on previous, more primitive laundry tools. These fluted metal cones attached to wooden handles were made by various companies and helped to more efficiently agitate laundry by hand.

This tool eases the long hours of stirring required to turn a heap of fresh apples into gallons of concentrated apple spread known as “apple butter.” Usually handmade, an apple butter paddle can extend 6 to 8 feet in length and is meant to be inserted into a huge copper fire-heated pot. The distinctive L-shape of this stirring device keeps the cook at comfortable distance from the heat for the many hours it takes to cook down the apples into the much loved “apple butter” preserve.
Learn more about apple butter here: What is Apple Butter? – Part 1