MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Tizer]

Not a mystery object but a couple of photos taken in our garden which illustrate teasels, the first showing them in flower and the second taken on a frost day showing the dried heads....

[Stanley]

That was our problem, English teazels are too short. You need the longer heavier ones to do the job properly.



A friend of mine and her sisters in national costume. Question is, which ethnic group?

[Tizer]

Thai?

[chinatyke]

There are a lot of ethnic minority people in Guangxi who traditionally dress like these young ladies, though not usually so colourfully. I'm going to say Chinese but hedge my bet and say possibly from Yunnan Province or Tibet.

[Tripps]

I rarely get these right, but I've a hunch for Laos.

[Stanley]

Sorry, nobody has got there yet but David is closest. Remember I asked for the ethnic group not the place of origin.

[chinatyke]

This type of head-dress is common in our area and is worn by the Miao people, but usually their head-dresses are adorned with silver. We are close to the Vietnam border and southern Guangxi was once part of Vietnam. Some of the indigenous people are tribes that lived throughout Viet/Laos/Cambodian/Burma and Thailand areas.

[Tripps]

Some of the indigenous people are tribes that lived throughout Viet/Laos/Cambodian/Burma and Thailand areas.

I think you've covered all bases there China.
I vaguely remember this puzzle from last time, but don't know the answer.

[chinatyke]

I vaguely remember this puzzle from last time, but don't know the answer.

Me, too. I seem to remember Stanley's friend lived in Canada, which explains the snow on the ground, but was celebrating something with her friends.

[Stanley]

I've pushed you far enough, It's in Minnesota and the ethnic group is the Hmong.



Bee in her normal kit! Eat your hearts out!

[chinatyke]

Wikipedia says: The Hmong/Mong (RPA: Hmoob/Moob, Hmong pronunciation: [m̥ɔ̃ŋ]) is an ethnic group from the mountainous regions of southern China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand. The Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity (苗族) in China. The Hmong began a gradual southward migration in China in the 18th century due to political unrest and to find more arable land (Scott, 2010).

Graham says: This type of head-dress is common in our area and is worn by the Miao people, but usually their head-dresses are adorned with silver. We are close to the Vietnam border and southern Guangxi was once part of Vietnam. Some of the indigenous people are tribes that lived throughout Viet/Laos/Cambodian/Burma and Thailand areas.

I should get half a point! Minnesota is near enough to Canada for me!

[plaques]

Two for the price of one. What are they and what are they used for?

P7310095AC.jpg

P7310096AC.jpg

[Stanley]

I think I know the answer but it's specialised knowledge. I'll hang back.

[chinatyke]

For sheet metal work? Folding and pressing the edges?

[plaques]

Not sheet metal, you'll kick yourself when you know.

[Stanley]

That shoots me down, I thought they were tinman's jennies. Is it for crimping the pastry on the edge of a pie then?

[chinatyke]

...you'll kick yourself when you know.

Is that a clue? Something to do with putting the welts on shoes?

[Stanley]

I think you've got it China! I'll go for that......

[plaques]

Correct China. You've got the small one. The small gear wheel engages the top of the welt and besides pressing it together puts the little notches in the top of the welt. The anvil wheel also puts fancy grooves in the sole.
Both these gadgets were on display in the BIRRO shoe repairers window, (shops in Colne and Barlick) he was good enough to drag them out for me to photograph.
The larger one is more complicated and has a blade towards the back of the wheels. Any ideas?

[Stanley]

For cutting leather bootlaces?

[plaques]

I think this object is dropping into the Sir Mortimer Wheeler class. The gear wheels and clamp serve to drive the leather under a blade, something like a wood plane blade which is set at a slight angle, this tapers the edge of the sole to give a slight curvature. They then go on to sell the finished product to Stanley at £14 a pair. (umpteen years ago).
Next please.

[Stanley]

Try this one....

[PanBiker]

I think I can remember this one but I'll hang back for a bit.

[Tizer]

We watched the Victorian episode of the Confectioners on TV last night and I could have sworn that the hand-driven bits of machinery they used were identical to those in Plaques' photos. They were for making boiled sweets - you rolled out your big lump of viscous sugar `dough' then fed the end of it into the machine, turned the handle and out came the segmented sweets. There must have been different shapes of mould to put in the machines. Perhaps they used the same machines as show workers!

[Stanley]

Back to my soft toy. Clue, he played the trombone......