Antique Wrought Iron and Wood Hog Butchering Hanger With Hooks

[batcap]

The guy I got it from appeared to be in his 70's, and he said it was old when he was employed to use it maybe 50 years ago. He said that this was used to hang hogs, but not cows, by the tendons in their heels to exsanguinate and butcher them. He shared a couple of gruesome stories about getting accustomed to butchering livestock. Then he said it hung on his wall for many years and he was willing to sell it for $10, so I bought it without negotiating.

Using his explanation as search terms, I found one other example at Worthpoint. It seems he was not pulling my leg. I almost signed up for the free 7 day trial but there have been some complaints about their business practices. So, how much do you think I can sell this thing? It's NOT gonna hang on MY wall for 50 years, that's for sure.

 

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[truckinbutch]

If it is what he represented it's called a gambrel . Looks more like a single tree to me

At $10 he got his money's worth .

 

[batcap]

Singletree it is. Maybe the device was sometimes used as a gambrel. It seems quite old, hand hammered and all. Worth $5 to $40 on ebay. Thanks Truckinbutch, giving it the proper name is all I needed to figure out the value.

 

[Digs68]

Yup! single tree.
We used them all the time when I was younger, as we always butchered our own livestock. Being a self-supporting family used to be a common way of life. I miss it sometimes. We had a milk cow, chickens, pigs, etc. Hog butchering days were the best. Once they were killed and dressed, the hogs hung for a couple days or more to season the meat (this is still done with nearly all meat. Beef may hang for a couple weeks sometimes before butchering.). The single tree is what hung them with the carcass opened, so that cooling of the meat was even inside & out. It also helped in hanging them high enough to keep the critters from getting them.
I can still remember the fried fresh tenderloin on butchering days. Good stuff!
We still use the single tree to hang deer before butchering. Good venison comes from proper cleaning and aging too. Usually a week or more.