Wow! Nothing like having the previous owner of this device send in his guess. Mark Schlesinger of Middletown, New Jersey wrote us, “In response to your May’s What Is It” I not only know what the antique is, I was the second owner of this exact penny arcade machine. I bought it in the early 1970s from the Casino Arcade […]

   We had several correct answers for last month’s What Is It. Susan Thode of Broomfield, Colorado; Terry Cook of Fort Morgan, Colorado; Jacque Rutledge of Northglenn, Colorado and Jean Helzer of Arvada, Colorado all identified the objects as sewing needle containers.    Thank you for your guesses. You have all won a year’s subscription to the Mountain States Collector.

   We had three correct answers for our March What Is It. This device with its different blades was used for bloodletting. Loene McIntyre of Fort Collins, Colorado; Judy Hess of Greeley, Colorado; and Jerome McLaren of Conifer, Colorado all correctly identified the objects. As Jerome pointed out, “This looks like an oriental 3 blade bleeder and its holder plus the […]

  Everyone of our guesses for the February What Is It identified the object as a desk ink blotter. Our source said it is a paper weight. This particular one has had an outdoor working life. It is six-inch cast-iron engraved weight used to anchor newspapers at a kiosk in New York. Decorative weights like this one are still in use so […]

Send your answers to the What Is It contest, postmarked by January 20, to the Mountain States Collector , P.O. box 1003, Bailey, CO 80421. Three winners will be drawn. Winners will receive a year’s subscription to the Mountain States Collector.