Set 348

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1999. 8" long, this is a replica of something that was used over 2000 years ago:

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2000. The case is around 10" long, circa 1960:

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2001. Approximately 12" long:

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2002. Sent in by a visitor who is looking to find the purpose of this ceramic container that is half full of sand, the lid has been permanently attached with glue:

























2003. 4" long, take a look at Neatorama for more guesses and a chance to win a T-shirt:

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2004. The part in the middle is 1-7/8" long, it's hollow and is open on both ends:





















Answers:


1999. An Egyptian Shadow Stick or Shadow Clock, the ancient Egyptians were among the first to use the the shadow cast by a stick to tell time. As the sun rises in the sky, the shadow acts like the hands on a mechanical clock, it moves along the stick and falls on the hour markers carved into the wood. At mid-day, the stick has to be turned around as the sun descends.

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2000. A Minifon NKG52 Body Wire with wrist microphone. The wristwatch contained the microphone, it fed the recorder by wire up the arm and the recorder was then suspended from the shoulder, under the arm. The "tape" was actually very thin wire on a spool. This is where the term "wearing a wire" came from. This model was made around 1960.

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2001. An Edison Battery, c.1920, it was designed by Thomas Edison, this alkaline battery uses iron in the positive anode and nickel in the negative cathode. These batteries were widely used in industrial and railroad applications.

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2002. No answer yet for this one:

























2003. A Finger Protector for use by a dentist so that he doesn't get accidentally bitten.

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2004. A spike from a Stop Stick that was made to be used by the police for stopping vehicles that they were chasing.









The spikes are held in place with styrofoam:

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Each of its three sides is lined with spikes, patent number 5,330,285
























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