Guess What Article for November 2002 The Journal of Antiques & Collectibles
By Bob Cahn, “The Primitive Man”

There are rare occasions when we come across a semi-obvious object and this month’s “Guess What” is one of them. Right off the bat, we’ll stipulate it’s a scale, with the weighing mechanism and sliding adjustments and attending graph paper in the enclosed attached box to the left. Having said this, we must mention there’s the inevitable catch – challenging you to figure out what was weighed.

Here’s another given. Obvious examination shows a seat (with rolling wheels and wheelbarrow-like handles for mobility) – which immediately conjures up a sitting situation. Why would a person sit on a scale?

We’ve come up with several possible explanations, such as:

1. Mother’s pregnancy scale for checking birth-weight increases
2. Goldmine worker’s end-of-the-day smuggling check-out
3. For large lap-dog weighing
4. Handicapped person’s scale
5. Cotton pickers back-pack bale weighing
6. Restaurant patrons all-you-can-eat buffet, pay-by-the-pound weigh-in and check-out Dept. store shoplifting garment surveillance preventative
7. Game wardens over-the-limit fisherman’s detection scale
8. Scale for over-weight people who can’t read the numbers
9. Narcotic agents condom dope swallowing stomach kilo weight discovery.

Tune in next month for the answer checking in at number eleven. Till then.*

* Courtesy of Watson Antiques and Auctions, Oceanside, CA

Answer to October 2002 Issue ‘Guess What’..?

Last month’s “Guess What” had the inscription: “Brewsters Patent” on the brass spring clip. We didn’t mention it, feeling it had no pertinent relevance. Also imprinted was the description: “safety reins holder.” That was relevant, but we couldn’t reveal it then, because that would have given the game away – and blown our cover of being smarter than our audience. We’re entitled to a little smugness, occasionally. The cast iron bracket portion fit on the edge of the buggy wagon dashboard – and the reins were wedged under the spring clamp for security – when parked.

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