A Dahlia Sprayer

Here's a new one on me -- something I've never encountered before.

It's a Dahlia Sprayer -- a sprayer/mister that you hand pump to pressurize. Apparently, these things are quite valued for the fine, dripless mist they produce. An outfit that sells them, Gaylord Archival, says this about them: "The Dahlia Sprayer has remained the standard handheld mister for many years. It is particularly well suited for relaxing paper and removing stains."

I tried out the one pictured and it works. It was made by the Maruhachi Industry Company of Tokyo, Japan. (If they're still a going concern, they don't appear to have a website.)

I'll stash this one in the storage room for now, along with some of my wife's gardening things. Perhaps she'll find use for it as some sort of plant mister.

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A Two-Prong To Three-Prong Adapter Cord

This short (under four feet) extension cord has a two-prong plug, and a three-prong receptacle. Why would anyone make such a thing?

The answer to that question lies in an obsolete form of house wiring known as 'knob-and-tube'. My dad's house had that type of wiring, and the outlets that accompany knob-and-tube wiring are two-prong outlets, not three-prong as with modern wiring.

So, to plug in a three-prong cord, one would need an adapter such as the one pictured here.

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Gillette Safety Razors

Well, what have we here?

A couple of ancient Gillette safety razor kits, it turns out.

The one on the right is missing its blade box, and its lid is plain, except for the name "Gillette" embossed on it (now very faded).

The one on the left is complete and, as best as I can make out (it's very faded), says this on its lid:

"AVEC NOS COMPLIMENTS ALLUMETTES LAURIER"

Which translates to:

 "WITH OUR COMPLIMENTS

 MATCHES LAURIER"

The 'ALLUMETTES/MATCHES' bit makes no sense to me.^[1] Possibly I'm misreading it -- it's very faded.

Anyway, here's the razor out of its box and assembled.

And here's a view of it completely dismantled.

That was high-tech shaving gear back in the day. (The things were made in Canada, by the way.)

There's a Wikipedia article on safety razors here.

I guess I'll stash these on the shelf where I keep my spare disposable blades.

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Note:

[1] The "AVEC NOS COMPLIMENTS" bit seems to suggest that the kit was a promotional freebie, perhaps for guests at a high-end hotel in Quebec. Maybe "ALLUMETTES" has some obscure other usage, and doesn't only mean 'matches'. I just don't know.

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Two Honeywell Mercury Switches

There's a partial label on one of them, but all I can make out from it is that the maker was Honeywell.

The upside-down one at the left is in its open condition. The right-side-up one at the right is in its closed condition.

The bulbs are about two inches long, and there's a sizeable bead of mercury inside, so I imagine these switches have a substantial current rating. I don't know what they're from.

In the 1950s, my dad had a '55 Pontiac. I seem to recall that he used a switch like these to rig a rudimentary theft alarm in it.

He mounted the switch on the underside of the hood, and wired it so that if the hood were opened with the circuit armed, the horn would sound.

Mercury is a toxic waste bogeyman these days, so I'd be required to take these to the hazardous waste disposal depot were I to want to dispose of them. But I'm quite happy to hang onto them for possible use for something-or-other. I'll stash them in my 'miscellaneous switches' shoebox.

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Modern Gunsmithing by Clyde Baker

[This item wasn't really in the garage -- it was on my dad's bookshelf by his La-Z-Boy in his living room.]

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"A Manual of Firearms Design, Construction and Remodeling, for Amateurs and Professionals"

by CLYDE BAKER

SECOND EDITION, 1933

Published by the SMALL-ARMS TECHNICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, Plantersville, South Carolina, U.S.A.

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It's quite a comprehensive volume.

Here's a paragraph from the opening chapter that can serve as an introduction to Mr. Baker's outlook:

"Work -- honest, decent labor, skill of fingers, accuracy of eye, -- somehow it seems to be beneath the present generation. The business man in his office sticks out his chest, holds "conferences," frowns and looks wise, preening himself on that thing he calls "ability." Then he sharpens his pencil by sticking it into a little machine and turning a crank -- or more likely screws down the point of an automatic gold one; has his finger nails cleaned by the blonde in the barber shop; calls a service man to change a tire on his car; wears a little useless penknife on his watch chain and sends it to a grinding shop to be whetted! -- yes, he does just that. We've been pampered now to the point of helplessness -- and if we don't watch our step, we'll find ourselves at the point of uselessness."

Bear in mind that those thoughts date from the early 1930s. What would Mr Baker think of today's automated world?

There's a brief  biographical item on Mr Baker here.

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A Paring Knife With A Really Cheap, Broken Plastic Handle

On the blade it says, "STAINLESS STEEL JAPAN". The blade actually looks pretty good -- it's very nicely ground.

The handle is another story. What a piece of junk.

Knife handle making is something I've never pursued, but this knife might be worth making a decent handle for. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'll stash this in my spare tools drawer.

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A Burndy Wire-Mike

These are quite a neat electrician's caliper. It appears that Burndy still carries them.

I'll keep this in the cabinet where I have some other miscellaneous measuring tools.

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