Whatzit Answer: 6/20/2008

Whoops! I didn't mean Thursday when I told you that the answer to last week's Whatzit would be revealed early this week.



There were two excellent guesses as to what this strange contraption might be: A clothes drier or wringer, or a paper or cardboard crimper. Both are close in their own way: This contraption is a fluting iron.

A fluting iron was used to put crimps, pleats, or ruffles into petticoats in days of yore. So it has both to do with laundry and crimping - half points to both guessers. Most fluting irons were not so fancy as this hand crank model - they usually had a ridged base and a ridged curved handheld top part. This particular fluting iron is from right here in Ellensburg, WA and is part of the oldest and most diverse collection in the museum. It's exact history is not known, but one can easily imagine the pioneer families of the Kittitas Valley ordering a fluting iron from the city to bring a little bit of luxury to their lives.

You can see many kinds of historic irons in North Dakota State University's Emily P. Reynolds Historic Costume Collection.

Whatzit: May 2nd answer

Last Friday I asked you what this very intimidating object might be:


I only got two responses! I thought for sure something this crazy looking would have you all intrigued. But those I got were... well, they were very creative!

"I'm gonna guess: hoof spikes for battle horses!"

"From the time of its invention in 1809 up until the civil war, the swingbarb was used by whaling ships for unspeakable purposes."

Interesting thoughts, but I'm afraid they are incorrect. As it happens, my research has led me to believe that our records are incorrect for this object as well. Our records say that this is a spur. And that does make some sense - it's pointy, has loops to be tied to something, and is adjustable. But that's not right. Get this: It's a device to wean a calf from its mother. Specifically it is a spiked calf weaner (link goes to a modern version). You can see an old version at this online auction site (lot #8).

This is a device which is worn by the calf as a nose ring, making it the most punk of all the barnyard animals. The outward facing spikes (which are not really sharp) poke the mother cow when the calf attempts to nurse, which makes her reject the calf's attempts. They also make it difficult for the calf to suckle. Thus the calf is forced to eat grains and so forth.

Answer 8-156

Last Friday's Whatzit was correctly identified by Allyson! It is a parfleche.



Parfleches were used to carry many things including foodstuffs and clothing. They are often decorated in bright colors and the designs are sometimes maps (according to one online source I read). I think of parfleches as the pre-runner to backpacks and suitcases. I'm not sure how apt that analogy is, but these objects certainly seem to be useful.

The parfleche is made of leather or hide which has long since stiffened and dried out, making it impossible to unfold it and use it as it was originally intended without causing significant and irreversible damage to it.

Answer

Just a quick answer to last Friday's Whatzit, because a long weekend means a short week with as much to do as usual!



It's a face carved out of a coconut. The top of the head is removable and the inside is hollowed out, so it's also a container. "Aloha Hawaii" is carved on the back. I believe we have two more similar objects in the collection!

The Return of Answers

Last Friday's mystery image garnered three guesses, all of which were in the right area. Bowl, Southwest pottery, pottery jug.

This is a small Acoma bowl. We have several small Acoma pottery pieces. Acoma pottery is associated with the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, thought to be the longest continuously habitated place in the United States. The original collector tended to collect objects as art pieces, so we lack information regarding the age and history of this vessel.

Dance Shield, 3-342

Last week I asked you what this might be a part of:


Guesses included a shield, a spirit board, and two guesses of a mask. Shield is the closest guess. (click on image for a larger version)


According to the accession information, corroborated with some google searching, this object is a dance shield or dance paddle from the Trobriand Islands. The ethnologist I referred to was Bronislaw Malinowski, whose name I enjoy pronouncing.

The shields (we actually have two such objects in the collection) are beautiful but fragile. The pigments, especially the white, are not secure. Just taking the photos I took for these posts resulted in white pigment left on the dark background, just under the weight of the object itself. Until such time as we can consider professional conservation treatment, all who might handle these objects must be extremely careful and consider the implications setting it down on a table may have for the pigment.

Bentwood Box, 3-311

Ding ding ding! Larissa is on a roll with two in a row correct. This past week's Whatzit gave you this tiny image:



And asked you to guess what the larger object was. Larissa guessed that it was a bentwood box.



This box is from the Northwest Coast and the motif appears to be a beaver. There are small shells that decorate the corners of the lid. Although the paint appears to have been "touched up" at some point in the past (obscuring original materials and possibly original colors), the box is still a treasure.

Winter Answers

Well, it snowed and snowed and snowed this weekend. Then suddenly it warmed up and has been raining since, so the snow is much reduced as I type this.

And *ding ding ding* we have a winner! Larissa was right on to this past week's mystery object. It is a sled runner. My information tells me that it is whale bone and has been broken since at least 1998.

This sled runner is one of the many objects I've been rehousing to prepare for the move. This is how the runner is being stored.



The pieces are tied with cotton twill to a piece of cardboard lined with foam. The board has handled to facilitate lifting. This board fits into a large drawer. When it comes time to move, the empty space in the drawer with be filled with quilt batting (separated from the object by a layer of tyvek or tissue paper) and the drawers can be stacked. In this way, the objects won't shift and move around when they're loaded into a vehicle. And the materials used in the tray are such that the sled runner can stay on the tray for a long time without suffering negatively.

Belated answer

So last week Friday, I asked how big this crazy pine cone was. One guess came in - at 9.5 inches.

9.5 inches would be an excellently large pinecone, but it pales in comparison to the true size of this pinecone. 19.3 inches or 43 centimeters. It has a diameter of about 5.5 inches.



It is, apparently, a cone of the sugar pine collected around 1920 in northwestern California. So not only is it really big, it's really old. I think that's pretty cool.

Adventures in Collections Management will be taking a break for Thanksgiving, but we'll return early next week. And word on the street is that we'll be starting up a real, honest to goodness website for this museum-in-development over the break. So I hope I can bring that to you by early December. Have a great holiday weekend, those of you in the US! And everyone else, just have a great weekend!

What was it?

Whatzit answers coming a day late - yesterday was a university holiday for Veteran's Day.

It is a swordfish bill.

I really enjoy our natural history collection, a legacy from an era without collecting policies. I get a kick out of things like our whale ear bones and this swordfish bill which, on the accession list, is called a
"swordfish sword."

I don't know where it was collected, but it was collected around 1924.

A Mystery Revealed

Last Friday's Whatzit was nigh impossible. It was a closed box with only the dimensions to guide you.

The consensus of the guesses was that it might be footwear (moccasins, knit socks, Jimmy Hoffa's loafers), but that it could be anything. Not footwear, folks.

They're masks!




From the collection of a former art professor on this campus, this is a pair of Nootka masks. Our documentation shows that there were originally three masks, but the third has not been located for approximately three decades.



These wooden masks are some of the first to be rehoused in anticipation of our future collections move. The custom box is built to fit within a standard bankers box. A layer of foam topped by quilt batting could be laid in the box to prevent shifting during the moving process. The masks sit on custom made pillows sewn from Tyvek and stuffed with polyester quilt batting. The pillows support the masks and keep them from resting exclusively on their edges - this distributes pressure.

Additionally, the boxes create a microenvironment which buffers the masks from the changes in temperature and relatively humidity in our storage areas.

Monday Answers

On Friday I asked you all, Whatzit?

Larissa said she thought it might be a multi-purpose candle holder. And that's close enough for me!

Here's the story: Ellensburg is very near to the Cascades, and very near to a small town called Roslyn. Roslyn was a coal mining town and this object comes out of the coal mines there. My information says it was a miner's candle holder. The point could be driven into a crack in the rock, or it could be hung from a ledge with the hook.

Mining was a huge industry in Roslyn, especially in the early years just before 1900. Even today, as we see on the news all the time, mining is a dangerous industry. Can you imagine what it was like over a hundred years ago? Going down underground with just a couple of candles and these candle holders to light your way as you work in the dark and the dust? It's a scary job, but a job that fueled the railroads which helped to populate the West.

I found this description of miner's candles via Google Image Search. It's a small object, and fairly simple, but important historically.

Tuesday answers, and a problem fixed

Whatzit Friday has come and gone, leaving you hungry for answers. Larissa B. guessed that it might have something to do with X-ray protection or could be a tool for flattening. Ana agreed with her. Someone guessing off the blog thought it might be a hanging sign with the signage worn off or a base for hammering on.

Good guesses everyone, but not quite right. It is... drum roll please... a bed warmer! Made of soapstone and collected in Wisconsin around 1930, this object would be heated and placed under the sheets to warm them up on those cold Wisconsin nights. Brrr!

It has been pointed out to me that, in order to comment on this blog, you need to sign into a google account. I have corrected that, and now anyone can comment on this blog, google account or not. I apologize for that oversight; it has been rectified.

Tuesday morning answers

The answer to Friday's Whatzit: Awl. Well, an awl from Alaska is what the accession list says (the information written down when we originally acquired the object).

Larissa B. made a good guess of a hair pin. I was thinking along those lines myself; I would have guessed something like a shawl pin.

An awl is an object used to punch holes in things, usually leather. Awls are usually made from a strong, sharp material such as bone or horn. I find it a bit unusual that this awl is so light and made of wood. There is some evidence that it could be an awl - the "pointy" part has a shiny patina on it, as if it were rubbed against something frequently.

The awl will continue to be a mystery to me, at least until someone encounters it and knows the history of this kind of object. But that's part of what makes this job fun. I have the chance to encounter new objects and learn about them. If I don't know what they are, I'll do some research to better understand what it is I'm taking care of.

The mystery presented by objects such as this awl is also why museum people insist on asking so many questions of individuals interested in donating things. Museums are in the business of stories; preserving stories, telling stories, keeping stories. This awl has lost its original story, it's become a mystery. If the awl came to us today, we would ask the owner where they got it, how they got it, what they know about it. We might discover it belonged to the owner's grandmother and was carved by the owner's grandfather to commemorate a friend. We might discover that the awl was used to make the boots which protected the family's feet against the cold. Suddenly the awl would become imbued with a history much greater and much more useful than the mystery that we currently have. But maybe, if we encounter the right person, we'll be able to find a story for the awl yet.

Answers to my question

On Friday I asked you, Whatzit?

Two of you bravely responded: Larissa B. guessed that it might be a fossilized seed pod or some sort of sea shell. Ana guessed that it was a part of a cranium.

Neither of you are exactly right, but Ana's pretty close. The object is question is actually a whale ear bone!

I wish I could tell you more about it than just it's name, but unfortunately, that's about all the information I have. The museum received the whale ear bone as part of it's first accession, which consists of over 600 lots of objects. Some of those lots have a great deal of information about their origins, others do not. The whale ear bone falls in the latter category. If I were to hazard a guess about its origins, I would guess that the donor bought the ear bone from some curiosity shop during his travels in the first half of the twentieth century, but there's really no way to say for certain.

Thanks for playing Whatzit!