Posted 3 years ago
Rattletrap
(915 items)
I saw this hanging on the wall in an old barn while we were Pickin today and thought it was very cool, but have no idea what it really is?
Some sort of stencil contraption? It’s made of thin metal like tin. Any ideas?
That'd be my guess...? I agree it is WAY COOL, whatever it is!!
Difficult to judge the size by the picture
is it a typewriter ball font for the Electric typewriter
I'm guessing the punched out letters are ~1" high ea., and they're in the typical font of antique shipping crates and industrial painted-on lettering for all kinds of signs and such . . . ??? :-) :-) :-)
AnythingObscure,
Correct on the 1”letters.
Ok I see Now ,,I was way off ,,I thought it was round
Like the letters on a Ball head Type writer
Valentino97,
Nope, I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking for some info. It does look like it might be some sort of stencil maker contraption but who knows?
Its sorta hard to tell in the pic...does it show evidence of any kind of paint buildup around the letters, or where such has been (routinely?) cleaned off of it? I could imagine it as part of some further contraption used to add shipping numbers to crates for example, but don't know what that would necessarily be?
Looks like it is a stencil. Here’s one that’s cleaned up:
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-brass-circular-stencil-dated-469263555
And some history:
https://winehistoryproject.org/stencil-wheel/
One more link:
https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE4402E/en
And for those who prefer not to follow links: it’s a stencil wheel used on wooden boxes, canvas bags, etc., invented by Eugene Tarbox, patented on August 11, 1868 (and renewed on May 30, 1871), and made by New York Stencil Works.
MJNJ,
Thx for the update. You’ve assured me that I found a very old and cool item and now I even know what it is and was used for. Awesome!