17 People Who Found Gizmos so Mysterious They Had To Ask the Entire Internet for Help
You found a mysterious-looking old artifact at home and you’ve got absolutely no idea what it’s used for — an ancient container or something looking like an alien life form in your milk. Good thing there are a lot of intelligent individuals on the internet that could help in such bizarre cases.
Today at CHEERY, we want to show you 17 cases in which people were bewildered by strange items, but the internet helped them solve the case.
1. “Too small for the neck, too floppy for the wrist, no marking or branding... how on earth do you wear this thing? Is it missing a piece?”
Answer: The strap goes around the wrist, and the ring goes on the middle finger. The style goes by the “Hath Panja bracelet,” the “belly dancer bracelet,” “harem bracelet,” and “hand flower”. It doesn’t have a specific origin since it gets re-used all throughout history and re-emerges in popularity with different names.
2. “Found four of these capsules filled with what appears to be metal shavings?”
Answer: It’s a pill for ruminant animals. It helps kill parasites, the big one being barber pole worms.
3. “Primitive structure off the sound side of the outer banks North Carolina.”
Answer: It’s a duck hunting blind.
4. “Shallow tub with two sides. When the button is pressed, one side lights up with a red light and hot water for about 30 seconds. Then the other side lights up with blue light and cold water and shuts off .”
Answer: This is very common in Germany. We call it “Wechselbad”. You’re supposed to keep your feet in the warm water first and then quickly put them in the cold water (repeat a few times). This is supposed to help with circulation, although I’m not sure if there’s actually scientific evidence for that.
We usually have these in spas and other wellness or health-related facilities.
5. “Found this digging around the mouth of a major Caribbean harbor (on my property). Did this come out of a cannon?”
Answer: There’s a lot of cannonballs in the bottom of the ocean around the Caribbeans. They’ve been known to wash up on beaches from North America to South America. I have a friend that found one on a beach in South Carolina.
6. “What is the hollow part of this for? Never seen anything like it before. Cat for size reference.”
Answer: A phone table with storage space for the phone book.
7. “Small red container. The lid has a small spoon attached to the inside.”
Answer: Snuff container. This is really established in the Mongol culture. My parents told me that it’s used because the winters are so cold and when you enter someone’s house it is a way to clear your nose.
8. “Found on a hike in the Highlands in Scotland. Looks and feels handmade, wooden handle and mesh made of wire.”
Answer: Fire beaters. Used to extinguish small fires.
9. “These small ’rooms’ that are raised up from the ground are all over the Spanish countryside. Many of the old houses have one. What was/is it used for?”
Answer: They’re grain stores called “hórreos.” A vast majority of them are located in “Galicia” and “Asturias” the northwest of Spain. But there are differences between them. A common “hórreo” in Asturias used to be square, while those in Galicia are rectangular.
10. “Door with a hinged section a quarter through horizontally?”
Answer: So it can fold around the corner when it’s open, and not stick out into the room.
11. “I found these in my grandmother’s house (Germany), they are made of thin glass. Unfortunately, there is no box cover explaining what they are.”
Answer: They are for flower decoration. One singular flower goes in the tube. There is probably a stand for them somewhere around, but some people like to stick them in foam together with other decorations, or in pieces of driftwood with holes drilled into them, or even into other flowerpots.
I saw very similar ones in the Bodenmais Glasmanufaktur.
12. “Friend received this passed down from his great great grandfather. It’s believed to be from Persia & about 2,000 years old.”
Answer: It’s a hairpin or a clothespin/brooch. If it’s something 2000 years old, you need to see a professional at a museum/institute of archaeology to get it evaluated and then get it insured.
13. “Blue/brown crystallized looking chunk came out of my milk?”
Answer: Someone is in trouble. This is a resin commonly used in machine work, especially as glue, to help hold machine parts together. As for side effects, you should be fine. It’s mostly just plastic.
14. “Found this while cleaning a basement, it doesn’t open or anything. Any ideas?”
Answer: Got it open!! It’s a lighter.
15. “Found this glass-like tube ’shell’ washed up on a beach in North Caroline, any idea what it is?”
Answer: Stingray teeth. Stingrays eat crabs and shellfish! These flat teeth are used for crushing their shells and grinding them up.
16. “I found this inside a drawer in my parents’ house. No one knows what it is or how it got there. The pouch is soft and flexible and is filled with some kind of gel or liquid. The oval disc inside is made of metal but doesn’t look valuable at all.”
Answer: Hand warmer. You can “click” the metal piece and it will start a chemical reaction and heat the pad.
17. “What is the Red pointy plastic used for? I can’t get a straight answer.”
Answer: For opening old style, push tab style cans. So you don’t cut your finger.
Have you ever encountered an item that you were super puzzled by? How did you crack the case?