Comments on: In The Archives: The Farmer and the Poet

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 12:51:58 +0000

Al: Thank you for your nice comment. I really grew to like William the more I researched him. It wasn’t all roses though; there are many difficulties involving his father’s inheritance and his sons that are in the diaries but which I just couldn’t fit into this article. At any rate, interesting M. A. guess!; we shall see. :)

By: Al Feldt

Al Feldt — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:48:47 +0000

I enjoyed the article on the poetic farmer, Laura. There is a bit of poetry in all of us but most refuse to let it out.
As for the artifact, I would guess it is some kind of container for liquid with one scale indicating how much water it started with and the second indicating how much completed product it has produced. Kind of like a coffee pot converting pure water to black coffee. Or possibly corn mash to whiskey? The only use I can think ofo for the object at the right is some kind of hot pad for the thing to sit on while performing its transformations.

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:18:43 +0000

Dear Mr. Floyd: Would you believe that my father, a former Heidelberg printing press mechanic, has an old roller-platen press in his garage? Weighs about a million pounds, is pretty much useless, and is the single, wonderful, thing I hope to inherit.

Of course, you are *eligible* for a prize, but so are we all. :)

By: John Floyd

John Floyd — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 22:01:27 +0000

I think this is a roller from the press at the old Ann Arbor News Building.

I really did conclude this before reading @6. Am I still eligible for a prize?

John Floyd
Recent Republican for Council
5th Ward

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:20:08 +0000

Interesting guess, Cosmonican. Also an interesting observation about the platen; this artifact has not yet been cleaned; this is its original condition when acquired.

By: cosmonıcan

cosmonıcan — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:07:07 +0000

I concur with the notion of a scale. There appears to be a window on one side for the clerk and another (smaller) one for the customer opposite. It would also seem from the photo that the right side of the platen is worn to a lighter color by the butcher’s thumb.

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:57:59 +0000

cmadler: “a welding mask for a hammerhead shark”–wow, there is poetry down here in the comments, too! I love that! Why pressurize air? Well, because then you have *more air* in the same container! More air than the next guy, anyways.

By: cmadler

cmadler — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:55:06 +0000

In the spirit of exceedingly silly guesses, I will say that the metal canister on the left is a welding mask for a hammerhead shark. Or maybe the part on the right is a foot pump to pressurize air into the canister. Why pressurize air, you ask? Why not!

By: Laura Bien

Laura Bien — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:05:41 +0000

abc: That is an interesting guess; we shall see. And the knitting protectors look very much like “corn people,” as we call ‘em in our house (the two little prongs look like legs…or something).

Oh no sir/ma’am, hand on heart here, I did not make up the tabletop marshmallow cooker; ’tis a real thing! Reality is plenty strange enough that there is an inexhaustible well of bizarre Mystery Artifacts!

By: abc

abc — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:00:56 +0000

I really have no idea but I want to guess. It looks like some kind of scale. It appears that what you are weighing, say for example marshmallows, can be placed on the platform on the right and then there is a slotted window where you read the weight. The window is slotted because there are conversions displayed in the window into other units as you read across. You can then determine how many tons, kips, pounds, ounces, drams and /or grains of marshmallows you have.

From here you would move on to your personal, tabletop, marshmallow cooker. (I know you made that up.)

I thought the knitting things were corn-on-the-cob holders.