MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

It's an oldie. Can you remember what it is?

[Tizer]

Treacle toffee left over from Bonfire Night!

[Big Kev]

Bitumen?

[Marilyn]

A Bakelite ashtray after a very long Poker Game?

[Stanley]

Ah! Good. You have all forgotten. No, it's none of those. Here's a visual clue.....

[Gloria]

I remember thinking it looks very tactile and smooth, I know I've seen it before but can't for the life in me think what it is. Isn't age a wonderful thing?? I am re-reading a book, I'm nearly at the end, I know I've read it before but cannot remember exactly how it ends

[Stanley]

It's old and broken and my wine merchant John Martinez was delighted when I gave him one as a gift.....

[Stanley]

I'll give it one more day.....

[Stanley]

My dad was born and reared on a cattle station called Eumalga near Dubbo in NSW. Eumalga was originally settled by a man called Serisier who was an accidental migrant to Australia from Burgundy, France where has family kept vineyards and made fine wine. He contracted I think it was Typhoid whilst on board ship and was put ashore at Sydney for hospitalisation. When he was convalescing he noted the climate and to cut a long story short took land at Dubbo and founded Eumalga with vineyards a large underground wine cellar and made good wine, one of the first men in NSW to do so. My dad had told me about the wine cellar because in his youth it was used as a cellar for milk and perishables. When I finally arrived at Eumalga this had all gone and the old homestead had been replaced by a new one located some distance away. When they took me to the new house I told them this was wrong it wasn't what my dad had described and they realised it was the old homestead I meant so they took me there. As soon as I got there I knew it was right and saw a depression where the old wine cellar had collapsed. I pointed this out and we found old wine cask hoops and also, broken wine bottles! That's what the mystery object is, the bottom of a broken wine bottle. Serisier is buried there and is quite famous. ( LINK) If you look in my dad's memoirs on the site you'll find lots more and mention of all the names in the link..
Next for shaving?

[Tizer]

I looked at the photo again yesterday and suddenly the word Dubbo came into my head. Then I remembered it in connection with your Aussie family background but that's because we have your book so I thought I'd leave it in case someone else worked it out.

[Stanley]

Nice one Tiz. We had them going there!

[Stanley]

Try this one.....

[Marilyn]

It is for weighing butterfly wings...of course...

[Stanley]

Very close Maz, you could use it for that!

[Marilyn]

Ok... Bee wings on the left, Butterfly wings on the right...

[Stanley]

Hold that thought..... you are so close!

[Stanley]

I shall give it one more day......

[chinatyke]

It's for testing yarn. I think you wound a certain length of yarn and then weighed it against a set of standardised weights. It would give you the yarn count. Could be used on the worsted and cotton count systems by winding different lengths of yarn. I've forgotten the different count system definitions.

[Stanley]

Near enough to get the Prize China. There were some templates in the small box that held the balance, one for cotton and one for wool, and what you actually weighed was a standard square of the cloth you were testing. This was done on the exchange and while it wasn't dead accurate it gave a good enough idea to base a quotation on.



Here's the case and the templates. Small enough to slip into your jacket pocket. Made by Casartelli of Manchester who specialised in measuring instruments for the textile industry. Beautifully made.....
Next one?

[Marilyn]

I had remembered what it was. I just didn't want to give it away.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

One for Ian! What is this......

[PanBiker]

Label is a bit of a give away there Stanley, burger maker by any chance?

[Stanley]

Curses!! Put another one up as punishment.....It was Stuart Brown's, I repaired it for him.....

[Stanley]

No new object?