We had no correct answers for our July’s What Is It. Perhaps if we had shown the front view it would have been easier to identify.    This object is a combination lock made in 1869. The exquisite workmanship, even its brass mechanism, visible in this rear view, is decorated.    It was made by the Herring Company of New York City. […]

   William McLaren of Anchorage, Alaska correctly identified the June’s What Is It pictured to the left. He tells us it is “a German-made, 1950’s Schuco Elektro Ingenico 5311 battery-operated, remote-controlled, tin maroon sedan with chrome accents. The sedan was modeled from the Buick V-8 of that period.    Schuco began in Nuremberg, Germany in 1912, as Schreyer & Co. In 1921 […]

   We had two correct answers for our May’s What Is It. Jacque Rutledge of Northglenn, Colorado and Marjorie McLaren of Anchorage, Alaska both identified the object as a swan-shaped art glass piece.    Marjorie shared with us, “May’s What Is It appears to be a beautiful Duncan and Miller pink opalescent glass spread-wing swan bowl. The swan pattern was perhaps their […]

We had three correct answers for our April’s What Is it. Bill Evans of Elizabeth, Colorado tells us this is a Dobbs & Co. Fifth Avenue Hat Box from the 1950s/1960s. The company was located at 242 Fifth Ave. in New York City starting in 1908. Dobbs & Co. was designed from the start to be a retail outlet for […]

   We had several correct guesses for our March What Is It. Michele Pontious of Belleair, Florida; Elsie Loyle of Wichita, Kansas; Jerome McLaren of Conifer, Colorado, (who pointed out that these are ancient Roman ring keys. Circa 100-400 A.D. Made of bronze and iron); Terry Cook of Ft. Morgan, Colorado, added these keys were “used for homes, gates, etc., around […]