What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
bpp
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by bpp »

Wow, learned something really cool today about Victorian fashion accessories.
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Mrs.Feeley
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Mrs.Feeley »

mouses wrote:How about putting the purse and the skirt lifter together in an enclosed frame, then they're a "display picture," no dust, etc.
That's a great idea. The reason I haven't put the purse in a frame is that the ornate metal frame on the purse and the big clip is silver and it tarnishes. It would be a pain to remove it from the frame to polish it every so often. I think even if the frame were air-tight it would still tarnish. Maybe a shadow box frame with a hinge on the back is the way to go.
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Raymond
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Raymond »

Mrs.Feeley wrote:...The reason I haven't put the purse in a frame is that the ornate metal frame on the purse and the big clip is silver and it tarnishes. It would be a pain to remove it from the frame to polish it every so often...
Consider Renaissance Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish (available from Amazon and other sellers) to minimize tarnishing.

However, if you want to preserve the patina on the silver (if any), this product might remove some or all of it.
"Ritter, Tod und Teufel"
CFM300
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by CFM300 »

I'm confused. You wrote:
Mrs.Feeley wrote:I'd been trying to find [the alleged bicycling purse] a new home for many years after it was thrust upon me
And the alleged skirt lifter has been junking up your closets, drawers, and tool boxes for quite awhile.

So...

Why not just get rid of both of them??

Sell them on Ebay or Etsy or a pawn shop or antique store or just donate them to Goodwill.

You can attach a post-it that says, "I think this might be an antique bicycling purse / skirt lifter. Good luck!"
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Gort
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Gort »

This discussion is much more fun than debating how much international stock someone should have in their portfolio. :)
johncunningham
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by johncunningham »

I have no idea if it is indeed a skirt/dress holder... But in my grandmothers kitchen, in rural America, in the seventies, there was one on either side of the kitchen sink. Screwed into the cabinet face. She hung "tea towels" or wash rags on them.
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Nestegg_User
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Nestegg_User »

Mrs.Feeley wrote:
....Nailing things to the wall is a special technique in the Midwestern art of decluttering by the way, especially effective when there's no more room to jam things under the bed or couch and you've already used a broom handle to try. So long as your guests are no longer bumping into something or tripping over it you're good as gold.
As a bonus, if you add enough to the walls it adds insulation value :D
GoldenFinch
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by GoldenFinch »

johncunningham wrote:I have no idea if it is indeed a skirt/dress holder... But in my grandmothers kitchen, in rural America, in the seventies, there was one on either side of the kitchen sink. Screwed into the cabinet face. She hung "tea towels" or wash rags on them.
I have seen this too! A tea towel clamp. Maybe the skirt accessory evolved into a new use as skirts became shorter.
angelescrest
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by angelescrest »

Is this the official Antiques Bogleheads thread?
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bertilak
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by bertilak »

johncunningham wrote:I have no idea if it is indeed a skirt/dress holder... But in my grandmothers kitchen, in rural America, in the seventies, there was one on either side of the kitchen sink. Screwed into the cabinet face. She hung "tea towels" or wash rags on them.
I have seen this myself. One useful feature: A gentle yank on the towel removes it from the hanger for "remote" use and it is very quick to replace afterward.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
Mudpuppy
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Mudpuppy »

GoldenFinch wrote:
johncunningham wrote:I have no idea if it is indeed a skirt/dress holder... But in my grandmothers kitchen, in rural America, in the seventies, there was one on either side of the kitchen sink. Screwed into the cabinet face. She hung "tea towels" or wash rags on them.
I have seen this too! A tea towel clamp. Maybe the skirt accessory evolved into a new use as skirts became shorter.
That would make sense. After all, a fabric holder is a fabric holder. So if you no longer need to lift your hem off the ground but you still have other fabric to hang, why not repurpose the old device for something still useful.

And I don't see why extreme decluttering needs to come into play. There's a difference between holding onto useless things because you can't throw things away and deciding that these things might not be useful, but they provide aesthetics or warm memories. So I see no problem with holding onto a few things just for sentimental purposes, as long as your whole house isn't full of them. I have a mostly completed, but not quite complete, painting that my great-grandmother was working on before her second stroke because it reminds me of her, even though it's not quite finished.
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Mrs.Feeley
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Mrs.Feeley »

johncunningham wrote:I have no idea if it is indeed a skirt/dress holder... But in my grandmothers kitchen, in rural America, in the seventies, there was one on either side of the kitchen sink. Screwed into the cabinet face. She hung "tea towels" or wash rags on them.
We have a winner! A possibly re-purposed skirt lifter turned into a towel holder...which would explain the eye screw.

Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments and ideas! :sharebeer
GoatRider
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by GoatRider »

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I thought you guys would like to see this.

I found this page when a co-worker was trying to figure out what this is. It's hanging by the kitchen sink of a rental cabin, and nobody knows what it is, not even the owner. You can clearly see that it's been used there for a long time, and it's consistent that whatever it was, was long ago repurposed as a towel holder.

Now, thanks to you guys, we know it's a victorian skirt lifter.

Image
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Miriam2
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Re: What IS this? Salad tongs for elves?

Post by Miriam2 »

GoatRider wrote: Mon Feb 19, 2018 10:18 pm Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I thought you guys would like to see this.
No problem, we love to resurrect old threads :happy
GoatRider wrote:I found this page when a co-worker was trying to figure out what this is. It's hanging by the kitchen sink of a rental cabin, and nobody knows what it is, not even the owner. You can clearly see that it's been used there for a long time, and it's consistent that whatever it was, was long ago re-purposed as a towel holder.
Image

Why - that looks like Mrs. Feeley's Victorian skirt lifter that she found when she was decluttering her house :D
GoatRider wrote:Now, thanks to you guys, we know it's a Victorian skirt lifter.
You're welcome, the Bogleheads provide solutions to almost everything, including mice in attic, teeth whitening, and 100 ways to use Costco BBQ chicken, as well as personal finance 8-)
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