What the heck is this?

[rickybobby]

A customer got this out of his familys hardware/feed store attic in Philidelphia. The building and store has been in his family since 1893, the building was built in 1910. He was told at a museum that it was for harness making.

The whole thing is wood, the bow is bent wood and it is hinged with wood pins. The "arms" are rounded where they come together but appear not to put a whole lot of pressure on anything when squeezed together.

Any clues??? :wtf:

Thanks for looking,

Rick Jorgenson

[tonyc1]

A customer got this out of his familys hardware/feed store attic in Philidelphia. The building and store has been in his family since 1893, the building was built in 1910. He was told at a museum that it was for harness making.

The whole thing is wood, the bow is bent wood and it is hinged with wood pins. The "arms" are rounded where they come together but appear not to put a whole lot of pressure on anything when squeezed together.

Any clues??? :wtf:

Thanks for looking,

Rick Jorgenson

Perhaps for straining something.

Tony.

[celticleather]

The shape of the bow suggests that it may perhaps be connected with shaping or stretching horse collars. I have no evidence to support this . . . just a theory!

[Casey Jordan]

Rick,

I've been looking through old auction catalogs because I thought this looked familiar. I remember seeing a boot jack that looked close to this. The one I found that looks close is from a Cody, Wyoming auction in 2005. It has the bent wood hoop like yours but it has a wood paddle you stand on instead of the handles. I don't know, they might just be different designs.

I could be way off base too.

Casey