# What's this kid holding? (Shorpy) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309 "2014-09-12T17:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/1 "2014-09-12T17:14:17Z")
An [old picture on Shorpy](http://www.shorpy.com/node/18522?size=_original#caption) showing a little kid in overalls carrying some strange apparatus. Does anyone else who visits Shorpy on a regular basis think it might be fun to have a thread devoted to examining Shorpy pics? Their comment section is not conducive to ongoing discussions, and the owners there are occasionally a hair snarky. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/2 "2014-09-12T17:16:36Z")
Heā€™s awfully young to be looking to get his ashes hauled šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/3 "2014-09-12T17:18:00Z")
It looks like a toy rake, toy shovel, toy hoe, and toy wheelbarrow. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/4 "2014-09-12T17:25:40Z")
itā€™s not a ā€œstrange apparatusā€. There are 3 items in his right handā€¦a rake, a shovel, and a dustpanā€“each with its own handle. They look like toys a kid would use to play in the sand at the beach. . And the item in his left hand is also confusingā€“itā€™s obviously just a box on wheels with a handle\*. But what the kid is doing with all this stuff on a city street, well, I dunno. \*(similar to the classic [little red wagon](https://www.google.co.il/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=615&q=%22little+red+wagon%22&oq=%22little+red+wagon%22&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1418.6030.0.6478.18.18.0.0.0.0.148.1841.0j16.16.0....0...1ac.1.53.img..3.15.1717.42dX_G0VchM) that kids in the 1950ā€™s played with) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/5 "2014-09-12T17:27:59Z")
Duhā€¦it never occurred to me it was three different things in his left hand :smack: ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/6 "2014-09-12T18:02:10Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > itā€™s not a ā€œstrange apparatusā€. There are 3 items in his right handā€¦a rake, a shovel, and a dustpanā€“each with its own handle. They look like toys a kid would use to play in the sand at the beach. . And the item in his left hand is also confusingā€“itā€™s obviously just a box on wheels with a handle\*. But what the kid is doing with all this stuff on a city street, well, I dunno. Third item (ā€œdustpanā€) is a hoe, I believe. Otherwise correct. A set of farming toys is my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/7 "2014-09-12T18:21:01Z")
ā€œCurb Your Dogā€ circa 1936. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/8 "2014-09-12T19:10:39Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > It looks like a toy rake, toy shovel, toy hoe, and toy wheelbarrow. Yep. Historical note: This young boy grew up, went into farming and started a family. His daughter got mixed up with a traveling salesman. The rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/9 "2014-09-12T19:28:45Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > itā€™s not a ā€œstrange apparatusā€. There are 3 items in his right handā€¦a rake, a shovel, and a dustpanā€“each with its own handle. They look like toys a kid would use to play in the sand at the beach. . And the item in his left hand is also confusingā€“itā€™s obviously just a box on wheels with a handle\*. But what the kid is doing with all this stuff on a city street, well, I dunno. According to the caption he is arriving at nursery school, so presumably heā€™s brought them to school to play with (or possibly for ā€˜show and tellā€™). ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-kid-holding-shorpy/698309/10 "2014-09-13T16:48:33Z")
In the pre-plastic era, childrenā€™s toys were always made out of wood. That would include child-sized replicas of adult tools, which would be stylized approximations as could be turned out in a simple woodworking shop.