Hello from Hazard!
It’s time. It’s time to put Item No. 847 to rest unsolved, because, while we received additional responses from our faithful readers, we’re all over the place with little agreement.
To bring you up to speed: Owner Ed Wanchock of Sewickley, Pa., didn’t know how it was used and turned to the best source in the world — Hazard a Guess. One reader thought it might be a blacksmith’s tool. Another said it looked like a tool used to balance tires.
This week brings still more answers. Two readers — Pam Sherer of Hudson, Ohio, and Barbara Kifer — say it looks like a tool used to stretch or tighten barbed wire fence. Nope, counters Alvin Dinsmore of Washington, Pa. It looks like a barn cleaner chain tightener. And John Milsom of Apollo, Pa., guesses it might be a nail puller (he has one his grandfather used back in the 1940s with a longer and straighter handle).
As much as we hate to admit it, Item No. 847 goes into limbo. R.I.P.
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Story Continues Below Photos
Thank heavens, there was no uncertainty about Item No. 848, shared by Don and Linda Kristo of Orwell, Ohio. It is a bailer used to draw water from a well.
Mary J. Barker of Sardis, Ohio, and Joyce Talbert of Akron, Ohio, were quick to identify No. 848.
Mary recognizes the bucket from her own youth: “I am 54 and my family didn’t have indoor plumbing until I was 15.”
The Kristos explain the galvanized tin bailer was lowered into the well and water flowed over the top and into the bailer. After you pulled it up, you could pull the ring inside and the water was released out the bottom.
Pretty nifty, and one we’ve not featured in our 20 years of Hazards!
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We had such good luck with the Kristos’ offering, that this week we’ll use the second item they submitted.
Item No. 849 is made of cast metal and is about 5 inches by 4 inches by 2 1/2. And they’ve kindly included a quarter in the photograph so you can get a better idea of size.
If you know how it was used, let us hear it! Write to: Hazard a Guess, P.O. Box 38, Salem, OH 44460; or via e-mail to: editorial@farmanddairy.com. Be sure to include your name, hometown and state.
Interestingly, the Kristos found both their Hazard items at the Sherley Bros. store in Anna, Texas. Do you think the publisher would spring for a road trip for Hazard? Well, we might just have to send Don and Linda back down South.
And if you’ve got a Hazard-ous item in your shed, barn or basement, send us a photo or digital photo file, along with a complete description of the item and its use. You can use the contact information above, or even send a photo via our Web site
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Item 849 is a calf weaner. To put it on the animal, you snap it open(the hinge is not visible in the photo) and insert each rounded end of the device in the calfs nostril and snap it shut. The calf is able to eat dry feed and bottle nurse, but no more at the mother. OUCH!!!
Item # 849 is a calf weaner. Place the heavy ends in the calf’s nostrills they should be hinged not shown but this allows the calf to graze eat grain drink milk or water but not nurse from mom
Ben Ream Massillon Ohio
Item # 849 is a cattle weaner. Snaped onto the nose of a calf, heifer, yearly or even another cow, it prevents it from suckling from another. The sharp points cause pain to the animal being sucked and not the animal trying to suck.