Anyone have an idea what these are?

[Eyeballer]

Hey all, I have been wandering the river bottom lately since we just had a flood and have come up with many interesting items. Among them are these two. One has been posted on t-net before and was never really identified. Looked it up before posting so as not to have anyone searching the old links. 9/2010.

What I am more interested in is the second item. It is @ 10" long by 3" wide and is made of porcelain. The ends are hollow copper that pass through the middle and there is something stamped in the copper ends, but due to the fact that this has been rolling around a river bottom for who knows how long, it is mostly unreadable. I found it while walking a rubble bar in the river. Looked like a tube of caulk, so I thought I would pack it out and throw it away. When I pulled it up I was a little surprised and excited. I immediately thought that it looked like a resistor or fuse from a large power station. There have been mills on this river since 1772 and one within a mile of where I found this that was washed away in 1868. I have no illusions of this being from either time period due to the construction of it, but have been unable to find anything resembling this on-line. Throwing it out to you all, any help is greatly appreciated




Thanks again

 

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[GrizLeeBear]

It looks like a rolling pin to me. Used in cooking biscuits and the like.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I remember the first item and I believe they are clay stoppers for old carboys but we couldnt come to a consensus agreement.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

The others were also found in a river. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/173386-jug-stopper.html

 

[Reed Lukens]

It's obviously an insulator for an old style commercial or industrial application to keep the wires separated. Like the old knob & tube style used here to go through studs.
Knob and tube wiring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Paleopilot]

Might be an insulator?

 

[Eyeballer]

It looks like a rolling pin to me. Used in cooking biscuits and the like.

Thanks Griz. While I am sure it would work in a pinch, the humor is appreciated.

 

[Eyeballer]

It's obviously an insulator for an old style commercial or industrial application to keep the wires separated. Like the old knob & tube style used here to go through studs.
Knob and tube wiring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Might be, but with 4" inches of copper on each end it would be more of a conductor than insulator. Thanks for your input and the link.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

It's obviously an insulator for an old style commercial or industrial application to keep the wires separated. Like the old knob & tube style used here to go through studs.
Knob and tube wiring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Are you sure Reed? It doesnt look like knob and tube style. At least its not obvious. It looks like a copper pipe inside. Knob-and-Tube Wiring - InterNACHI

 

[Paleopilot]

Might be a lightning arrestor. For radio antenna use?

 

[relicmeister]

whatever it is it's an odd find ,and an odd place for it to be.

 

[surf]

Hello Eyeballer,

Welcome to the Tnet, and thanks for bringing these mysterious objects.

Hopefully, I can bring a degree of closure on the first one. I've found a number of the ones like yours over the years. I always wondered what they were. I thought some sort of plug or stopper for vitreous clay pipe, and I still hold on to that as a possibility. Only because I have found them in close proximity to small size vitreous pipe.

I was later told that they were stoppers for carboys. That made sense to me, but I wondered about alternative or additional uses...

It wasn't until I found this porcelain example that I pretty much closed the book on them.

The Gem Stopper Co, of Philadelphia patented these guys, though I've not yet found the patent drawings. The Smithsonian has their catalog: [Trade catalogs from Gem Stopper Co.] | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution

"[Trade catalogs from Gem Stopper Co.]
VARIANT COMPANY NAME:
Established 1875
COMPANY NAME:
Gem Stopper Co.
RELATED COMPANIES:
Gesco
NOTES CONTENT:
Universal acid carbon stoppers ; asbestos gaskets ; metal fasteners ; "Gesco" brand."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~​

From a lawsuit concerning their milk bottle stoppers:

"That at all said times, the Gem Stopper Company, the defendant above named, was and now is a Pennsylvania corporation engaged in the business of the manufacture of bottle stoppers, including tin milk tops, and a special variety thereof known as Lightning Tin Tops for milk bottles and the wire trimmings for fastening the same. Bradbury's Lawyers' Manual and Clerks' and Conveyancers' Assistant

These stoppers, I believe were afixed with wire bail closures, a la the Lightning stopper bail. I also think for that nice tight seal, they would have had a rubber gasket.

I hope this will serve as a semi solution to some of the long running discussions that have periodically graced these forums.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Great work surf. I think that pretty much closes the book on item #1.
Proof positive that they are stoppers and were used for caustic chemicals.
When I get a chance (or if you have time) I/we need to move your pictures over to the other 3 or 4 threads and mark them as SOLVED.
Thanks.

 

[surf]

Thanks Big Cypress,

Being the new guy, I don't know the protocols for the whole retroactive "Bingo" business. Lemme try on that one...

 

[Eyeballer]

WOW! Holy crap that was detailed and on point. Thanks so much for taking the time to research and post this. I am, as are many others grateful for your persistence.

HH

 

[Eyeballer]

**UPDATE**

Did not want this thread to sit idle. I have been in touch with some "Experts" and the mystery device is tentatively ID'd as a "cut-out" fuse for transmission lines. I have another query out and if that comes back with a similar verdict, I will mark this thread solved.

Thanks all