1073. Grabler Check Protector, also called Bank Check Protector or Vest Pocket Check Protector, patent number 690,853
1074. Safety Derrick Lamp, more commonly know as a Yellow Dog Lamp or Yellow Dog Lantern, because when seen from a distance it was said that the yellow flames looked like the eyes of a dog. Patent number 126,688:
In an oil region the greatest care must be taken to provide safe lamps for use about the derricks, where they have to be suspended at various heights, and are liable at any moment to be struck by a shaft, or by the carelessness of a workman be knocked down or dropped.
...the accidental fall of a lamp, or failure to tightly secure the lid, might ignite the ever-present oil, which would communicate instantly with the well, and thus destroy, maybe, hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of property, and, what is not at all unusual from this very cause, many lives.
1075. Not sure about this one, it could possibly be used to lock around the stem of a screwdown valve to stop it from being closed, or it could be a lock collar for a trailer kingpin, as in patent 2,656,706.
1076. These are horn weights for a bull. To keep bulls from seriously injuring each other when fighting, these weights were placed on the horns to make the ends point downward. They were also used to fix mismatched horns, where one horn grew slightly higher than the other. If a horn weight was left on for just a few weeks, it would easily change the higher horn's angle of growth. Modern versions can be seen here.
The other side reads "ST L MO" - St. Louis, Missouri.
Very similar to patent number 1,287,540.
A different model of the same piece of hardware:
1077. Nail Headers, blacksmith tools for forming the the head on a section of nail rod.
1078. Eel trap, these were made in many different configurations. I didn't realize that we had them here in the midwest, but apparently there are still a few American Eels left in some lakes and rivers.
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I went to an antique machinery show last weekend, and didn't expect to see anything like this old helicopter:
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They didn't have any information on it posted, so I'm still trying to find out more about it.
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Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the entire post:
More discussion and comments on these photos can be found at the newsgroup rec.puzzles.
