Whatsit?

[malcolm]

I've seen mirrors like that before but I can't remember where. I had a little look on the internet but was distracted by a reproduction 1959 car tax disc. That was no use as before 1960 tax expired at the end of the year rather than the end of the month that might remind me to tax and MOT the fleet.

Are the mirrors used for inspection by any chance? Perhaps something to push down a sewer pipe so you can identify which species of tree is living inside? (Do you know willow trees have pink roots.)

 

[DJH]

Well guessed Malcom...
They are Drain Inspection Mirrors and they were made by the splendidly named 'The British Fumigant Company'. They are placed in the channel of the drain facing down the drain and the instructions say...

The mirrors are placed in the channels or the manholes and reflect the light along the drain. By looking straight down a full view is obtained



I bet they were also used to view the back of a soldered or wiped joint to check the integrity of the joint. I would have used them for that...

Doug

 

[Penners]

The inventiveness of mankind knows no bounds.

 

[LadyArowana]

The inventiveness of mankind knows no bounds.

Yet we still have the "wobbly wheel" on supermarket or airport trolleys, the "wobbly table top" in cafes and restaurants, and has anyone ever managed to comprehend a station speaker announcement?

 

[DJH]

Sorry, what did you say?....

 

[worms]

Just had to look up The British Fumigants Company Ltd! Sadly nothing on companies house, so it no longer exists - at least not under that name. Only trace I can find is in the archives of the Natural History Museum, whose entomologists appear to have been in correspondence with one of the company's directors on the matter of identification of fleas found in a cottage in the 1930s.

 

[Penners]

Identification of fleas??

"Yes, number 3 - that's him - the one with the wonky eye. He's the one who bit me."

 

[worms]

Identification of fleas??

"Yes, number 3 - that's him - the one with the wonky eye. He's the one who bit me."

The difficult bit is getting them to stand still long enough for the line-up.

 

[Penners]

Superglue?

 

[MatthewC]

The inventiveness of mankind knows no bounds.

Yet we still have the "wobbly wheel" on supermarket or airport trolleys, the "wobbly table top" in cafes and restaurants, and has anyone ever managed to comprehend a station speaker announcement?

Not to mention tea pots and kettles that dribble!

Then, of course (slight drift) theres the inventiveness that use's comma's in all the wrong place's; it's correct use should be practiced frequently. 8) :lol: :wink: ...

 

[worms]

The inventiveness of mankind knows no bounds.

Yet we still have the "wobbly wheel" on supermarket or airport trolleys, the "wobbly table top" in cafes and restaurants, and has anyone ever managed to comprehend a station speaker announcement?

Not to mention tea pots and kettles that dribble!

Then, of course (slight drift) theres the inventiveness that use's comma's in all the wrong place's; it's correct use should be practiced frequently. 8) :lol: :wink: ...

Them's not comma's, them's apostrophe's! :roll:

 

[DJH]

Any one know what this is used for?







continued....

 

[DJH]

Doug

 

[Zebra]

I don't know. It's a thing, that's for sure.

 

[DJH]

Just for a moment there Z I thought you were going to say it was for taking stones out of hooves...

Doug

 

[Zebra]

Well yes, but many things are good for that, including teaspoon handles, screwdrivers, car keys... I never was much into all that grooming nonsense.
Digressing slightly, I found an unidentified thing in the garden, and I thought to myself "I bet DJH knows what it is"......

 

[DJH]

Have you got a picture of your thing Zeb? 8)
No guesses for the whatsit? Here's a clue...it's for leaving a mark/marks...
Doug

 

[88v8]

Hmmm.
Is it for sexing stag beetles?

Ivor

 

[DJH]

Good guess Ivor but wrong I'm afraid...

It's a folding pocket tree scribe or marker used by a woodsman to leave a mark in the bark of a tree to show what needed to be done to it. I suppose they had different marks for different actions.

I tried it out....



Doug

 

[Zebra]

That's interesting Doug.
Cannot post pictures of my thing. Laptop and phone both unwilling to cooperate. Either it's IT pixies, or a sudden bout of incompetence. Will keep trying.