Thanks, Jim Fay, for sending us this month’s What Is It. Send your answers to the What Is It contest, postmarked by July 20, to the Mountain States Collector, P.O. Box 1003,  Bailey, CO 80421. At least three winners will be drawn. Winners will receive a year’s subscription to the Mountain States Collector.

We had two correct answers to our June What Is It? Both Charles Pheasant of Centennial, Colorado and Jacque Rutledge of Northglenn, Colorado identified the object as a stamping or sealing device. Our friend Tricia Meyers of Berwyn Heights, Maryland also identified the object Charles says, “It looks like a date stamper you used to see at the bus station, […]

Terry Cook of Fort Morgan, Colorado and Jeannie Reynolds of Nederland, Colorado and Carolyn Kundel of Roland, Iowa all  correctly identified the What Is It as a waffle iron. It is made for a wood stove.  Heat the iron over the stove then put the batter on the iron, cook (bake) then then using the handle of the devise to […]

We had no correct guesses for May’s What Is It. It is, of course a butter mold. A butter mold is a tool that enhances the presentation of butter to set out on a table at a gathering. An old primitive butter mold was hand-carved with a design etched into the flat bottom. To use the mold, the butter maker […]

Ever since repeater pocket watches were made over 300 years ago for the wealthy and nobility, they have been seriously collected by those who could afford them. There is something fascinating about their characteristic tiny gongs that ring out when a lever on the side is pushed in. The original purpose of the gongs was to tell time in the […]