Featured Mystery Metal...Things

Not on my horse he'd dump me when the first big truck went by. We're both too old for that nonsense. I did have a pony at the fancy schmancy equine hospital in Leesburg once. Does that count?

 

How about a Dodge Colt?
You could hook that to your key chain.

 

or...Hyundai Pony !! .....but what a POC.....

 

Did they have the gaul to call one of those that???
-
Ha!!!!
Bounce that idea right off witcha main.

 

it rusted right off the lot......but hey...look at them now!

 

Syumday??? Ummmm... NO!
My son had one he left with me while he was deployed on his sub.
He wanted it driven sometimes as he didn’t know how long before he could come for it.
The day my x gf drove it for the third time or so it quit smack in the center of one of the busier intersections in Seattle!
It would not start and NO mechanic, their’s too, could fix it.
By now it’s a bunch of poorly made throwing stars or cleats for golf shoes.

 

Hi,
Same thing with the Yugo. A friend got one for buying a Condo. He drove it about a month and was leaving for a teaching job. He gave it to me. It ran for three weeks and no one could fix it. What a pile of crap!!!!
greg

 

'Here Yugo sir thanks for buying this (pos). What? Oh no sir I just said thanks.
(Yugo and try to drive it. Then Yugo to this, that, the other and your brother mechanic where they tell Yu to go stuff it.)'

 

Well, since they have obviously been moved, were not there in the 1950s before the remodel.
I think someone didn't know what they were, guessed them to be hitching posts and put them at the doors.

I think the people that suggested iron stands for inside the fireplace are probably correct.
There was probably more than one fireplace. The main one in the kitchen for cooking. Others for warmth where a pot with water may have been hung for humidity.

 

maybe once...but why put them outside ...stuck into the ground....??

 

Because they lose them???

 

you mean like the Amazon deliveries that get swiped from the front porch ????

 

I may not have seen the same photos, or may not have interpreted them correctly, but looks to me as though the structure required considerable repair at a really fundamental level. Bricks for the porch, or at least the steps of the porch, on the side with 2 of these whatsises must have been relaid for them now to be cemented in place. Would think all little appurtenances would have been set aside for their own restoration while the major work went on. Surely comprehensive photos would have been taken beforehand & things replaced as much as possible to where they were found. Can't imagine something originally found inside would have been installed outside by people with a passion for recreating history. (Also can't imagine they wouldn't know a stand for fireplace tools when they saw one, nor that if that's what these are, the tools wouldn't have been found with them.)

Also curious why there is only one in the vicinity of the front door, & that one on the porch but not by the steps. Can't tell if it has been fixed in place or left portable. One lost from the front? Racks to hold something you were less likely to need if you were coming through the more formal front door than if entering by the other? We could really use some additional info from OP.

 

This has been a great conversation! Who knew such things would cause this kind of research?

I'm going to try to answer as many questions as I can so stick with me!

1. The metal items pictured are from the north porch, a smaller porch on the end of the house, not the main porch.

2. There is only one metal stand attached to the step next to the main porch.

3. Yes, it is true that the Marshalls changed the wood front porch to brick in the 1940s BUT the little brick step that has the metal stand attached to it (both on the north porch and on the front porch) are original to the 1920s, when a porch that extended across the entire front facade was shortened to its current length (i.e. prior to Marshall ownership). The brick step was added so you didn't have to jump from the main porch to the ground. So to be clear, the brick step on the left of the front porch was there, even when the porch itself was wood.

4. The brick steps that have the metal items attached to them were not touched during the restoration. The brick is original on both steps and the stands were never removed. They have been in the EXACT same spot since the brick steps were added in the 1920s.

5. I highly doubt the metal items are fireplace-related. At this point I believe they are purely for decoration.

P.S. If any of you would like to visit the Marshall House, if you give me a heads up on here, I can try to meet you there and give you a special tour of the grounds and the house. Just ask!
Victorian Porch (1907)


Porch shortened to its current size (c. 1920s)

 

A lot of the bricks on the house were deteriorated and had to be replaced.

 

It's a magnificent house !!! ... Joy.

 

Attached, also by the step? Another thought I had, but don't really see as mechanically feasible, is that they were to hold a lantern so you wouldn't trip on the step. Don't strike me as very ornamental if meant to be decorative, more as a hazard, with that forked bit sticking forward, something you could get snagged on or trip over. A bit short for hand holds...?

 

I took some other photos of the metal stand on the main porch and the north porch.


Main porch and step. (Notice the difference in the original brick on the step and the restored brick on the porch)




The north porch with the two stands on the step.