# A couple of weird finds today, no idea what they are...



## JohnRhubart (Mar 16, 2013)

So, the first thing here is weird, it looks like a hook at first, but when you twist it and look at it it can't possibly be a hook..notice the treads at the end of it, like it screws into something..


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 16, 2013)

here's another angle of it...I dug this out of the ground, it was about in 3 feet of soil, the metal isnt rusty or anything, it is heavy, maybe brass? I havent tried very hard to clean it up.


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 16, 2013)

and here's the other thing, it looks like a metal jug of some sort, covered with porcaline, it has a flat backside with a hole in it, like it was to be nailed to something. Then it has that funny little spout at the bottom of the jug.


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 16, 2013)

and here's another angle of it. I found this thing half buried in the ground, cleaned it up as best I could. Please, this stuff drives me insane when I can't figure out whatthe heck it is, if you have any idea what these things are please let me know, save my sanity!!!


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## epackage (Mar 16, 2013)

> ORIGINAL:  JohnRhubart
> 
> and here's the other thing, it looks like a metal jug of some sort, covered with porcaline, it has a flat backside with a hole in it, like it was to be nailed to something. Then it has that funny little spout at the bottom of the jug.


 Maple syrup or a hospital item I think...


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## MIssissaugadigger (Mar 16, 2013)

I would second the maple syrup bucket.


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## madman (Mar 16, 2013)

maple syrup collector?


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## toddrandolph (Mar 17, 2013)

I don't think it's a sap bucket. They are galvanized steel. The typical sugar house would have hundreds or thousands of buckets. Way to expensive to make them from porcelain enamel, and they are emptied by taking the bucket off the spile or tilting it to empty, it would take way too long to empty it out the bottom thru a spout. The brass thing may be part of an early electric hanging light fixture.


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## Plumbata (Mar 17, 2013)

The metal thing is likely brass, and to me looks like an ornamental feature off of an old gas lamp.

 Not sure about the bucket, but i agree that it wouldn't make much sense as a sugaring item.












 I can tell you one thing though...






 It's a boy! []


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## epackage (Mar 17, 2013)

> ORIGINAL:  Plumbata
> 
> It's a boy! []


 Made me snort...[]


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## Plumbata (Mar 17, 2013)

Hehehe []


 Anyway, I have found some useful leads regarding the strange enamelware item:

 They suggest it may indeed be for sugaring, but aren't sure. I suppose the spout could have been connected to rubber hose and directed to a central collection point, but if so, it wouldn't require the depth or capacity it has. That was my initial holdup, along with the expense of such items (and storing a bunch of them, as they can't be nested).

https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?ahid=1978&aid=60094&lid=15073938

 There are a couple on eBay, one with a label stating it was made in Austria. The sellers think they were wall-mounted water buckets for garden-related usage, or for washing hands, and that there was a plug/cork for the spout:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-1920s-AUSTRIAN-ENAMEL-WATER-JUG-GARDEN-WALL-BUCKET-WITH-SPOUT-/220992327610?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33742b4fba

 It would take more searching to figure it out definitively, but I think I've done my part. []


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 17, 2013)

hey man, thanks alot! Thats so much more info than I ever thought I would get on that! Its driving me insane! I thought maybe it was a makeshift shower, I was going all over the place with that thing!


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## epackage (Mar 17, 2013)

*Enema Bucket?!?!?!*

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Jones-Ware-White-Enameled-Porcelain-Irrigator-No-200-Hospital-MIB-/221198852224?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item33807aa080

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ENAMEL-IRRIGATOR-ENEMA-NO-200-C-NICE-LOOK-/121080020519?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c30ee7e27

 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Jones-Hospital-Surgical-Ware-Enamel-Irrigator-/261181253635?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccf9da803


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 17, 2013)

Bah!!! How in the heck did you figure that one out?? I guess I could plant a flower in it or something, I still think it's cool, good think I didn't find the tubing that came with it though huh?


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## blobbottlebob (Mar 18, 2013)

Cool Thread! I found something like this and I always thought that it was a rainwater collector. I'll post a pic in a few minutes . . . Mine is flatter on the back.


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## blobbottlebob (Mar 18, 2013)

Here's mine. I found it scuba diving in an area where many turn of the century to 1920s artifacts were found. Obviously, it got a bit corroded underwater. Thought it was different enough to bring it home, though.


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 18, 2013)

heyyyy, we're Enema Bucket Brothers!!!!


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## blobbottlebob (Mar 18, 2013)

John. Thanks for posting the pic and helping me figure this out. I'm not sure I want to be anybody's 'enema bucket brother' but other than that, I appreciate the new knowledge.[]


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## botlguy (Mar 18, 2013)

> ORIGINAL:  JohnRhubart
> 
> heyyyy, we're Enema Bucket Brothers!!!!


  [][][][][][]


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## Plumbata (Mar 18, 2013)

Nice work E-Jim, I imagine you found it by plugging in the search-term "irrigator"?

 JohnR - When searching for knowledge about something strange, one must try many different strings of descriptive search terms. So Bucket/Pail/jug plus spout/nozzle/spigot plus enamelware/metal/enamel/graniteware/irrigator, plus water/wall/garden/etc. (in the latter mini-string case not so helpful) and eventually you will find what you are looking for. It may involve literally dozens of different combinations of the terms before you find what you seek. Just like the items we desire, they need to be painstakingly sniffed-out and dug up first! Probably won't find much in the first spot the shovel happens to strike the soil, but with the benefit of much trial and error it is an eventual inevitability.

 So, the truth is out there!

 Good job everyone for solving the mystery! []


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## ironmountain (Mar 18, 2013)

thought the enamel piece might be similar to this piece. I find a ton of this white enamelware with the red ring. I have bowls, pans, coffee pots...find a bunch of it at inlaws' farm. Everytime I dig some up, wife wants me to keep it for her...


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## epackage (Mar 18, 2013)

> ORIGINAL:  Plumbata
> 
> Good job everyone for solving the mystery! []


 Actually I followed the natural progression from *your lead* Plumb and went with "Jones Metal Products" and searched the pictures and there it was...[]


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## JohnRhubart (Mar 18, 2013)

thanks everyone, I do appreciate all of your help!


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