# Identify this Whatsit **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790 "2018-01-03T11:57:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/101 "2018-01-05T22:48:06Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Yes, we’ll never see a problem like [CATIA / A380](http://www.cadalyst.com/cad/product-design/what-grounded-airbus-a380-10903) again And you believe that’s a valid comparison to two fucking pieces of wood? Seriously? 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![joejelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@joejelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joejelly)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/102 "2018-01-05T23:02:57Z")
My first thought is that it is a ladle or spoon rest to be placed on or next to the stove. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/103 "2018-01-05T23:04:10Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > For myself, I have no ideas. It’s too small to serve 2 pieces of sushi, for example, even one piece probably wouldn’t fit. Perhaps a tray for wasabi and sliced ginger in a sushi bar? Especially if it is made of bamboo. ---
**Author:** ![joejelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@joejelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joejelly)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/104 "2018-01-05T23:04:32Z")
And more expensive. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/105 "2018-01-06T00:42:37Z")
The “handle” fits through a slot in a missing lower part and acts as a hinge? So you open the container by pressing down in the handle from the outside. It would have a practical application for a single serving of something hot and steaming. Lids for small ceramic containers bringing fresh steaming hand cloths to the table in an Asian restaurant? (Where were the following pictures taken? It’s beautiful.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/106 "2018-01-06T01:42:25Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Perhaps a tray for wasabi and sliced ginger in a sushi bar? Especially if it is made of bamboo. Our second vote for that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/107 "2018-01-06T02:09:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Our second vote for that. A bazilion of them though? The OP has some ‘splainin’ to do. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/108 "2018-01-06T02:29:20Z")
Chopstick rest? Not a great one though… Wait, wait. It could be the protrusion into our dimension of a vast pan-dimensional machine, big brother to the turbo-encabulator, all done up in designer wood paneling. (Honestly, access to other dimensions is the only way some of the linkages in the turbo-encabulator could work…) ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/109 "2018-01-06T03:05:23Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > A bazilion of them though? > > The OP has some ‘splainin’ to do. Voter fraud!! ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/110 "2018-01-06T03:18:41Z")
possibly an otoshibuta drop lid with a handle ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/111 "2018-01-06T03:38:19Z")
It seems to be the right size and shape to rest one of those ceramic soup spoons on. The flat bottomed ones that are common in Chinese restaurants? Don’t know why it would be preferable to just setting on a napkin. But maybe in higher class settings it would be the way. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/112 "2018-01-06T09:34:44Z")
When I first opened the image two possibilities came to mind immediately. The first is that it reminds me a great deal of what some of my associates would use to place lighted incense upon in the 60’s. Specifically the shorter ones shaped like cones. No Febreze needed when two or three of those were burning in your bedroom. I believe these slightly older associates used the incense to disguise the odor of other things they were burning. Being able to grab the base by a handle and move it out of the view of intruding parents or other adults seemed to be an important feature. The second possibility that occurred to me is a sort of primitive candlestick. I seem to recall that you could buy stumpy little candles about an inch and a half in diameter, and about three and a half or four inches tall in packages of six. You would light the candle and drip some hot was on the base then use the hot wax to attach the stump onto the base. The candle and base would sit on a table to provide light for reading or playing cards- then at bedtime you would use the handle to bring the candle to your nightstand and get into bed. I don’t recall if it was at a camp or where I saw these. I did have some relatives we visited a few times during cross country driving vacations who remind me very much of the McCann brothers from the movie Secondhand Lions. I believe they were loathe to turn on an electrical light for anything other than a life threatening emergency (since they didn’t own stock in the power company) but I believe my parents had a strict “we will be long gone before dark” policy concerning visiting those relatives. That might be where I saw something similar used as a candle base. The package of candles and one base might have been for power outages now that I think of it. Where I grew up power was pretty dependable, so maybe my folks had a set that sat in a seldom used cabinet for twenty years. But it might have been a gift from family in the plains states or great lakes region where tornadoes and blizzards, rail accidents, lightning storms or other disasters might have made power outages more common. It is even possible the round base was made for the candles, but my innovative and slightly older cousins used them for incense. I do have a vague recollection of something very much like the widget in the OP with something upon it burning for either scent or light. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/113 "2018-01-06T13:48:34Z")
I zoomed in and enhanced the image. There’s a little marking on the item. it says: 14 k of g in a f p d Perhaps that’s helpful? Sorry, I’ll show myself out. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/114 "2018-01-06T13:55:26Z")
> [@Kedikat](#): > > It seems to be the right size and shape to rest one of those ceramic soup spoons on. The flat bottomed ones that are common in Chinese restaurants? > > Don’t know why it would be preferable to just setting on a napkin. But maybe in higher class settings it would be the way. Because your napkin would be in your lap? I like that, but those spoons are typically well balanced and would stay up on their own. I don’t think it’s for use with an open flame. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/115 "2018-01-06T14:15:04Z")
[It’s a](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2H6qC23RPY) \_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/116 "2018-01-06T15:01:27Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > [It’s a](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2H6qC23RPY) \_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_. LOL! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/117 "2018-01-06T15:15:45Z")
I found [this](https://www.dropbox.com/s/8apnh9dzfskgnsn/Mystery.jpg?dl=0). The mystery deepens. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/118 "2018-01-06T15:24:53Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I found [this](https://www.dropbox.com/s/8apnh9dzfskgnsn/Mystery.jpg?dl=0). The mystery deepens. Relay port covers for Little Boy! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/119 "2018-01-06T20:36:18Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I found [this](https://www.dropbox.com/s/8apnh9dzfskgnsn/Mystery.jpg?dl=0). The mystery deepens. Fuck. I laughed out loud and had people in the pub looking at me like I was an idiot. Thanks! ETA: That’s the funniest damned thing I’ve seen here in 13 years. ������������������ ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790/120 "2018-01-06T21:30:20Z")
That had me going for a moment. did we ever find out what it was ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-this-whatsit/805790.md?page=7)