Dear Mountain States Collector,
We, too, are intriqued by your October 2021 “What I It?” My husband and son and I have put our heads together, done some research, and are hazarding our best guess as to what the item is. For starters, the only decipherable word (of two words) on the object is “All Bright” which is either a trademark or the name of the company manufacturing the object.
We believe the object itself to be the light source of/for an “All Bright” acetylene gas headlamp for an early automobile — e.g. a 1914 Ford Model T, or a possible later version found on a 1927 Duesenberg Model X Dual Cowl Phaeton. This object would be enclosed inside a glass headlamp. The thing that slides back and forth or up and down on the device, somehow, activates or sparks the gas part in the headlamp.
As for the Nov. 2021 “What Is It,” we are submitting this letter too late for your 11/20 deadline but we believe those 4 objects to be various shapes and sizes of nozzles used on 19th C. (late 1870’s plus to early 1900’s) fire wagons. The wagons were either man-pulled or horse drawn and the nozzles would have attached to canvas hoses which were often wound around circular wheels or hacks to keep them untangled.
Three of the nozzles appear to be made of brass, which, when polished, make a stunning focal point on a fireplace mantel piece. The 4th black one is either made of iron and lacquered black (or wrought iron) or pot metal, blackened maybe through use. I am tempted to say it might have been silverplated “for show” and then became tarnished black, but I rather doubt it due to cost and impracticality.
We absolutely LOVE your newspaper, and it keeps us up-to-date on upcoming shows and specialty events, not to mention addresses for antique shops and interesting in-depth articles on various old items and period pieces and events.
Thanks for all your efforts.
Elizabeth B. Puls, Louis Puls and Stuart Puls Boulder, CO
Dear Puls Family,
Thank you so much for solving our What Is It for October. Rocky Mountain Antiques in Loveland, Colorado, where the object resides, will be so happy to finally know what the object is!
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