✅ SOLVED Field find whats it - 9/23

[Michiganne]

Field find what's it - 9/23

Hi all,
Found this today while on a field site. The former house dates back to 1873+ but this thing does not look terribly old. I later showed it to the farmer who owns the land and he had no idea. Any guesses? The circular part swivels completely around, threaded on the right end.

TIA and HH,
Michiganne

 

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[creskol]

That is a rein terret ..think it's called a flapper spinner style terret.
see this link: http://www.mytreasurespot.com/main/read.php?3,533605

 

[Michiganne]

That is a rein terret ..think it's called a flapper spinner style terret.
see this link: ID Needed- Brass whatzit?*(n/t)

That's it. You rock, creskol!

I thought it looked like a rein terret, but have never seen one with a spinner on it before. What purpose does the spinner part serve?

The farmer's father did farm initially with horses. He told me to let him know if I get a postive ID on it.

Thank you!

HH,
Michiganne

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

That exact form of horseharness rein-terret (a.k.a. "rein guide") has been discuessed here at TreasureNet's What-Is-It forum previously. In case you're curious, here are some photos showing the version you found (and many others) in a turn-of-the-century mail order catalog, and where the terrets/guides were mounted on the horse's wagon-pulling (or buggy-pulling) harness, and how the rein-guide looks in use.

Apparently, the purpose of the "spinner" (moveable center-disc) was to keep the reins from sliding too far forward.

 

[Michiganne]

here are some photos showing the version you found (and many others) in a turn-of-the-century mail order catalog, and where the terrets/guides were mounted on the horse's wagon-pulling (or buggy-pulling) harness, and how the rein-guide looks in use.

Apparently, the purpose of the "spinner" (moveable center-disc) was to keep the reins from sliding too far forward.

Very cool, thanks CannonballGuy. So any way to date this dug terret? Love the old catalog page.

HH,
Michiganne

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

No, unfortunately, there's no way to date a rein-guide/terret with solid certainty. Although everybody thinks immediately of horsedrawn buggies and wagons in the civil war era, few people seem aware that they were still in widespread use in the 1930s. You even see them on city streets in 1920s photographs.

 

[creskol]

No, unfortunately, there's no way to date a rein-guide/terret with solid certainty. Although everybody thinks immediately of horsedrawn buggies and wagons in the civil war era, few people seem aware that they were still in widespread use in the 1930s. You even see them on city streets in 1920s photographs.

Heck Pete .. When I was a kid in Baltimore, street vendors and laborers still used wagons. I got a kick out of one scenario. A laborer was stealing the copper gutters and down spouts from a house on the same block I lived on. When the police arrived, all the copper was on his wagon, and he was headed down the street. The police took him into custody, and one uniformed officer jumped onto the wagon, and down the street he went. Looked funny seeing an officer piloting a junk wagon!

 

[antikbuff]

Old Terrets

Hi all,
Found this today while on a field site. The former house dates back to 1873+ but this thing does not look terribly old. I later showed it to the farmer who owns the land and he had no idea. Any guesses? The circular part swivels completely around, threaded on the right end.

TIA and HH,
Michiganne

View attachment 679592View attachment 679594View attachment 679593

They're caller terrets. Sometimes misspelled as terretts

They screw into a horses saddle... Generally used when multiple horses are pulling a cart/wagon. The purpose of these is to run the reins from the lead horse(s) along the side or top of a saddle to the handler/driver of cart/wagon. They keep the 'slack' out of the reins.

Hope this helps. Now that you know the name... Google terrets and you'll see an amazing group of styles for show or work.

Dave Flack