What is this thing?

[braumeister]

These look similar enough to me that I think someone just attached one to the old wooden stick in order to not have to bend down so much.

Garden Seedlings Widger and Dibber Transplanting Planting Tools

 

[O2Bfree]

One thing I just noticed is that one side of the plastic forked end is slightly shorter than the other. The fork sounds hollow and doesn't seem suited for any sort of gardening task. The thing weighs 283 grams, 0.623 pounds, and just feels unwieldy for planting. I guess it could be used to reach fruit for picking but why would it have to weigh so much?

Whatever it is, it doesn't show any signs of wear.

When I was a kid and asked "why", dad would sometimes say, "To make you ask questions." He could be quite the joker...maybe he cobbled this together for that purpose, and is having a good laugh from the great beyond!

 

[O2Bfree]

I looked into fruit pickers, and they tend to have a long handle and a basket for catching the fruit:

 

[Toast]

Guessing: Any chance it is an eating utensil for shell fish? Could the metal end be for cracking the shell and the plastic "fork" end be used to dig out the meat/fish?

 

[O2Bfree]

Guessing: Any chance it is an eating utensil for shell fish? Could the metal end be for cracking the shell and the plastic "fork" end be used to dig out the meat/fish?

Haven't heard that guess before. A half-pound of brass would definitely crack a shell, or even a skull!

 

[marko]

I'd say it's some sort of tool for fabric work. Like something a weaver might use on a loom

 

[Telly]

I looked into fruit pickers, and they tend to have a long handle and a basket for catching the fruit:

Ah, but those are commercially available ones. I was thinking of something that was cobbled together at home using immediately-available materials to solve an issue at hand. Like needing a bit more reach up or out while on a step ladder.
The heck with the rest of it, I want to know what/where that very unusual molded blue plastic piece was from/for!

 

[Marita40]

Any news from Reddit? After mention of that site, I scrolled through it for about an hour last night! Very interesting!
I think I'll hold out for a homemade dibber. Here's a guy who makes big (and relatively heavy) ones on etsy. The turnings on the wood of your "thingy" could have been used for depths.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/801814...UzuTAQuWmnsBxhBIBiZ4ncTPlH6uSjaEaArn2EALw_wcB

 

[TripleLindy]

The pointy end is plastic and hollow. So that means it's probably not a gardening implement as braumeister suggested.

If plastic, I wouldn’t think it’s all that old. Plastic didn’t become mainstream until the 70s and probably wouldn’t have been available for a one off thing like that until even later. That’s just a SWAG on my part, with no real basis.

 

[MichaelB]

The other day I spent way too much time reading a subreddit called whatisthisthing "For the identification of mysterious objects"? They have 2.2M members, so if you don't get a believable answer here, I suggest you post it there. https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/

That reddit site is addictive. Thanks for the link

 

[SecondAttempt]

Yes, thanks! I just posted there this morning before seeing your response. Then I also got sucked in and spent an hour or so looking at all the interesting objects posted there. Fascinating indeed!

I'll post back here if I get as solution to this puzzle.

I can't find your reddit post. Are you getting any hints there?

Did your parents have any hobbies like weaving, knitting, or macrame? I have been researching macrame and rug making tools and it looks similar to some of those. But no direct matches yet.

 

[Act2]

Is the wood one piece or is one of the turned indentations actually a place where it comes apart?

 

[Fermion]

That is a special tool used to draw arcs from Tesla coils. That is the reason you have the brass ball and the plastic on the other end.

 

[intent]

How is the plastic attached to the wood?

 

[O2Bfree]

How is the plastic attached to the wood?

By two small brads on either side.

 

[O2Bfree]

Ok, I think we have a winner on Reddit!

It's a "fish priest," a club for bonking fish.

The forked end is a bit odd, but my husband suggested it could be used to follow the line down the fish's throat, then push the hook out of position. Possibly the fork was added later, either as a part from something else or it was a new-fangled plastic part manufactured for this purpose when plastic became mainstream.

A priest makes sense, as my dad did some salmon fishing in the 50s-70s.

 

[O2Bfree]

I can't find your reddit post. Are you getting any hints there?

I didn't do the post right the first time. I was waiting for a confirmation-type email, not realizing I had to look on the site for a special message. I guess I didn't RTFM!

 

[MRG]

I didn't do the post right the first time. I was waiting for a confirmation-type email, not realizing I had to look on the site for a special message. I guess I didn't RTFM!

It's Reddit there's no freaking manual!

That's a good explanation especially the de-hooker.

 

[marko]

Ok, I think we have a winner on Reddit!

It's a "fish priest," a club for bonking fish.

The forked end is a bit odd, but my husband suggested it could be used to follow the line down the fish's throat, then push the hook out of position. Possibly the fork was added later, either as a part from something else or it was a new-fangled plastic part manufactured for this purpose when plastic became mainstream.

A priest makes sense, as my dad did some salmon fishing in the 50s-70s.

Yes. And in hindsight, I forgot that I actually had one when I was a kid.

 

[skipro33]

Ok, I think we have a winner on Reddit!

It's a "fish priest," a club for bonking fish.

The forked end is a bit odd, but my husband suggested it could be used to follow the line down the fish's throat, then push the hook out of position. Possibly the fork was added later, either as a part from something else or it was a new-fangled plastic part manufactured for this purpose when plastic became mainstream.

A priest makes sense, as my dad did some salmon fishing in the 50s-70s.

Were we fish it's called either a fish shampooer or a fish-be-good. I like shampooer better myself. Ha! Give that fish a shampoo and it calms right down...

 

[JoeWras]

The things you learn. "Priest". Amazing. Glad you found a logical connection to your dad too!

I just joined that subreddit. Looks like fun.

 

[Sunset]

We were more plain I guess, so we called it a "fish bonker". Ours was like a small wooden club with a thin handle and a fat wood bulb on the end. It must have had lead inside as it was unnaturally heavy at the impact end.

 

[Marita40]

OP, you are a lucky person. You can now bonk fish, plant seeds, and conduct Tesla arcs, all with one handy tool!

 

[ls99]

We were more plain I guess, so we called it a "fish bonker". Ours was like a small wooden club with a thin handle and a fat wood bulb on the end. It must have had lead inside as it was unnaturally heavy at the impact end.

Guess it is not the British meaning of the bonker.

 

[MRG]

We were more plain I guess, so we called it a "fish bonker". Ours was like a small wooden club with a thin handle and a fat wood bulb on the end. It must have had lead inside as it was unnaturally heavy at the impact end.

+1
Childhood memory of one in a cousin's cabin. Theirs was like a miniture baseball bat with lead in the center.

Depending on what you are fishing for the dehooker may not be necessary. Seems like the cousins fished deep water lake trout with 6" lures. If you caught something it was coming home for dinner.