MYSTERY OBJECTS

[plaques]

Time to come clean...Wendy is right, Its me, its me , Its me, Gus can be considered as a real famous local photograph, my statement should be classed as a hyperbole overreach. This picture was a result of me trying to do a selfie, as you can see it didn't work.

I don't know, but he has lovely hair..

Thank you for the compliment. I try to look after it the best I can. A light wash once a week and then hung up in the bathroom allowed to naturally. Then once a year back to the professionals for maintenance and extension where necessary.

[Wendyf]

I have the slight advantage of knowing what you look like......without the camera though!

[Stanley]

So do I but it never dawned on me.....



Try this oldie.....

[Stanley]

That's gone down like a lead balloon! If there are no takers I will kill it tomorrow.

[Gloria]

A chock for something?

[plaques]

A chock for something?

. I think the last time round you started the answer with 'Sanding Block'. Stanley had screwed a square block on the back for ease of handling.
So I think you can claim victory.

[Stanley]

Sorry no. Clue it's exotic and now illegal.

[Wendyf]

That's an irresistible clue, is it ivory?

[Stanley]

You've got it Wendy. I bought it in a job lot out of a workshop and I am satisfied it's old enough (Pre 1947) to be legal in that respect but I have an idea that it would be an offence to work it. By the way, I suspect it could be Mammoth Ivory, there was a lot about in the 19th century. Many pianos have mammoth ivory covering their keys.
Next one?

[Stanley]

I suspect this is illegal now as well. Any idea what it is?

[Cathy]

Did it used to hold snuff or pomander ingredients?

[Marilyn]

Beware the brown bottle...mind you, it has a screw top, so can't be that old.

[plaques]

I was thinking of Jackson's 'All fours' cough mixture. contained GUAIPHENESIN a bit addictive but I think you can still get it. When I was a kid it came in a standard rectangular bottle. Another guess is Indian Brandee and Tincture of Rhubarb. Still available I believe.

[Gloria]

Indian brandee, used to love it.

[PanBiker]

Kaolin & Morphene?

[Tizer]

Could it be laudanum (tincture of opium)?

[Big Kev]

Kaolin & Morphene?

I was going to say the same...

I got a funny look when I asked for some in the chemists a couple of years ago.

[Stanley]

Sorry, far more poisonous than any of those. Trying to think of a clue..... How about mad hatters?

[Cathy]

I was going to say Arsenic but I'll say Mercury.
Hatters used to be exposed to the vapours of mercury and some went mad.

[Stanley]

Well done Cathy, you have it exactly right. The bottle is incredibly heavy. I came by it in a workshop clearance and much of the stuff was antique. Apart from the obvious uses in thermometers and barometers it was widely used as a filling for high quality plumb bobs, the heavier they are the better.
Next one?

[Tizer]

Take care with it Stanley. One tap and the bottle could break and you'd have insidious, poisonous mercury in your workshop or wherever. I'd sit the bottle in cotton wool or screwed up paper in a plastic container for safety. Alternatively, offer it to a lab somewhere. Make sure it's well labelled in case you're family inherit it!

[Marilyn]

Take it to the Chemist and hand it in for disposal. You don't need it. It is dangerous....not the sort of thing you should have in your home.

[Stanley]

This is the gable end of the Cross Keys pub on Jepp Hill in 1982. Can anyone tell me what the small corbels across the gable end are for?

[chinatyke]

MERCURY:

Mercury recycling, Manchester

If anyone finds out you have it in your home, all manner of people in protective clothing will descend upon you. Your street will be sealed off whilst hazmat officers decide what to do! It is something that is treated seriously nowadays.

[Tizer]

They look more like cavities than projecting corbels in the photo.