Badge-Like Thingy

[mlw67]

Hi!

I found this badge-like thingy and I have not seen anything like it before. It has to date earlier than 1955 since it has been under pavement since then.

Does anyone know what it is?

Thanks for looking!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Very wild idea but it reminds me of a hinged patchbox cover.

 

[dozer dan]

too much to read too little time. this has probably already been mentioned

but if not.............. its a door knocker for a jewish home.

it explains the upper hinge point

and the little legs at the bottom. it most likely would have been mounted on a
background metal plate.

 

[dozer dan]

Please don't yell at me for adding this ( it's not a case of I'm right and you're wrong ) but I honestly think it's too small to be a door knocker. Look again at the first photos of it being hand held. It's quite small, plus no way to grab it for knocking. If it was considerably larger, I'd say you were right on the money!

i wouldn't do that. we need views from every angle, yours mine and everbody.

as for the too small, i was kinda thinkin that also untill i googled "door knockers"
and saw the many, many sizes and styles. some were a lot smaller than the pic we have.

p.s. what ever you do, if you google this make sure you type in "door" knockers

 

[72cheyenne]

Could this be part of a terret swinger?

 

[mlw67]

Thanks for the continued interest and replies, everyone!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a wee bit disappointed to see that no one has totally nailed it, but that's OK.

I'm off to google "terret swinger" and see what the heck that is.

 

[72cheyenne]

I had another idea.

Maybe this is the lid to the female trailer wiring plug found on some vehicles.



Bad pics, but maybe you can get the idea.

 

[mlw67]

Researching 'terret swingers' was an educational experience, but I like your second idea better.

My idea of an exhaust flap still looks promising as evidenced by the picture I'll add.

The question then of course would be, "An electrical port cover or exhaust flap to what?"

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Just a suggestion ... but the six-point "Star of David" is unique and seldom used without a specific reason attached to it. Being as most uses of a typical star are five pointed, I'm convinced there is a Jewis connection to the item. I've been following that lead, and will post if I find anything. I'm sure there are exceptions, but so far everything I've seen with six points is connected to the Jewish Star of David.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

P.S.

Is the item cast iron ... cast aluminum ... pot metal, or something else? The magnet test may help in determining this.

Thanks.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I dont think it Jewish related but just a feeling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_David

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

There is an old school near my house that was built in 1929. They recently decided to put a community garden in the back of the school in an area that had been paved for a long time. I was lucky enough to notice this right as they finished taking out the broken asphalt and the fill that had been placed under the asphalt. But I did find some coins, almost all of them dating between 1930 and 1955. But below that was a layer of stuff that certainly did not come from the schoolyard. I surmised that some older houses had been there, and that one or more of them had burnt down, judging from the high degree of charcoal in the soil. The houses surrounding the schoolyard are predominately 100 to 130 years old, and the stuff I was finding in the lower layers at this site fit that time period. The way the finds were scrambled up at different depths in the lower level leads me to believe that before they had put in the schoolyard they had thoroughly bulldozed the site. This particular item was found 8" to 10" down.

I took a portion of earlier information to be kept in mind while we search for the proper ID of the item.

I hope you don't mind that I deleted some portions of your quote? They can still be read in their origional form.

Thanks.

Bob

 

[IronSpike]

Inkwell lid?

 

[vayank54]

You beat me to it Ironspike but I was thinking inkwell lid too.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

I was surfing the internet and came up with these.

1. 1900's Judaica glass ink bottle by: J. Karmanski

2. Cast iron "lid" to some part of a wood stove. Date

 

[vayank54]

If it was to an inkwell. I don't think it went to a glass one. There were metal inkwells that were like a cover for the glass ones. The glass inkwell would go down inside the metal cover and the metal cover had a lid that had a seal that fit tight against the top of the glass. Some of them were big fancy things that would go on a desk and other were smaller and more portable.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

Please ... somebody stop me. I'm getting so far out in left field that I may never be able to find my way back.

I discovered that Montblanc Ink used a variation of the six point star on their bottles.

If there was an old school where item was found ... maybe it was a Montblanc desk top ink well lid.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Sometimes I search an idea, and bingo... there it is!! Then other times I feel I am close to solving, but cant find an exact match. Keep searching in that direction if you like. It could lead to a killer ID.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

This is an English ink well made of copper. No date or other info available, except that it is old. The lid looks similar in design to the item in question, but I realize that "similar" and "close" won't win me a cigar just yet.

 

[SODABOTTLEBOB]

The attached photo is of an antique school desk. If you zoom in on the ink well lid you will notice it is similar in design to the item in question. Especially near the top where it narrows and protrudes where the hinge part is. I know this is a long shot ... but I'm trying.

 

[IronSpike]

The last one is very close to being a match. Well done SODABOTTLEBOB