MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

The elusive mystery object I put up is a pair of different sized adjustable mandrels, used for holding Workpieces between centres in the lathe by gripping them in a centre hole. Very handy to have about your person.
Tiz, is it one of those suits skydivers wear that give them enough lifting surface to 'fly'?

[Tizer]

All wrong so far but the mention of skydiving is getting you closer!

[Marilyn]

A pressure suit. ( possibly for treating emergency situations)

[Cathy]

Is it a suit along the lines of an anti - gravity suit that an astronaut in training would wear?

[Tizer]

Good tries but sorry, no. I think I should employ a clue to nudge you out of your present rut. Stop thinking about someone wearing it...and why is it hanging up in the air?

[Pluggy]

Scarecrow ?

[PanBiker]

Looks a bit like a divers suit but there is no yolk for attaching the helmet and no seals on the cuffs and ankles.

[Cathy]

The suit looks like it has a cape attached to it and is stuffed with something, not sure why it has such a deep collar.
It's starting to look like a cartoon characters suit to me.

[Stanley]

Is it the front half of a pantomime horse?

[Tizer]

It's not a suit, a scarecrow or a pantomime horse. I'll give you another clue - it helped us win the war.

[Stanley]

Flame resistant suit for an RAF fireman?

[PanBiker]

Pennies dropped, woo hoo, it's a dummy parachutist dropped as a diversion tactic before the main D-Day incursion.

[Tizer]

Spot on, Ian! Do you know its nickname without having to look on Google?

[PanBiker]

I think they are Ruperts aren't they? Some had pyrotechnics fitted to simulate gunfire and further confuse the enemy.

[Stanley]

Well I never......

[Tizer]

Correct Ian! `Ruperts' was the nickname used by the British to describe them and I think they are officially paradummies, and the Americans had another name for them. I didn't know about the pyrotechnics though. Several of you commented on the short legs - the dummies were made to a smaller scale than actual adult human size so they appeared to be further away from the enemy observer. This would have tricked the observer into assuming any unrealistic aspect was due to the distance rather than because they were dummies. I photographed this Rupert in the military museum on Davidstow moor, Cornwall, recently. LINK Seventeen small buildings situated on what was once the highest airfield in Britain (and probably the windiest too!). Run by a husband and wife team who seem to have boundless energy and enthsuiasm.

I've now looked on the Web and see the Americans called the dummies Oscar. The Ruperts were used in Operation Titanic and there is more information here: LINK

[Stanley]

Try this one.....

[Tizer]

I can picture a southern American lady sitting at her sewing machine while a slave uses this fan to waft cool air over her in the sultry heat of Louisiana.

[Stanley]

You've got it in one Tiz. It's a fan used as an advertising ploy. Try this one.....

[Tizer]

Well the fan did have text at the top left saying "The design on the front of this fan represents...". But then you're having difficulty with your eyes so it's likely you didn't realise it was there.

Don't know about the new object but I'm glad I don't have to mow the lawn!

[Cathy]

It looks like a view from the American White House, or a picture taken from a plane looking down on the White House grounds.

[Tizer]

A mobile ad for McDonald's burgers?

[plaques]

View from the St Louis Gateway Arch. Missouri. or the proposed line before it was built.

[chinatyke]

View from the St Louis Gateway Arch. Missouri. or the proposed line before it was built.

I agree. Actually it is the shadow of the St Louis Gateway Arch, picture taken from the top of the arch looking down.

[Stanley]

You've got it China.....
Next for shaving?