Seen recently on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149

Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?

Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
and why would you do that?

Mark wrote on Sat, 26 May 2007 12:00:52 -0700:

MT> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149

MT> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?

Looks like an old and rather useless lemon squeezer to me. There
is a device to put a pinhole in an egg *shell* to prevent
breakage when hard-boiling but that's not what is.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

Mark Thorson said...

> Seen recently on eBay:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>
> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>
> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
> and why would you do that?


This time I'm fairly certain it's a an ashtray that the help carries around
the cocktail parties for guests to extinguish their cigarettes or tip their
ashes or both.

Andy

James Silverton wrote:
>
> Looks like an old and rather useless lemon squeezer to me.
> There is a device to put a pinhole in an egg *shell* to
> prevent breakage when hard-boiling but that's not what is.

Isn't it a bit too small for that?

A _lime_ squeezer, maybe.

Not for somebody who needs a large
quantity of lime juice for a pie
or something.

For a wedge of lime, for some types
of cocktails.

I bet that's it -- this is a bar
accessory.

Andy wrote:
>
> This time I'm fairly certain it's a an ashtray that the
> help carries around the cocktail parties for guests to
> extinguish their cigarettes or tip their ashes or both.

That's called a "silent butler" and they are
always available in many styles on eBay,
usually antique and often in silver with
fancy wood handles.

Right now, there's 113 of them listed:

http://search.ebay.com/silent-butler...Zm37QQfromZR40

However, one thing they all have in common
is they have enough capacity to hold the
contents of an ashtray. This device is
only 3 inches wide. It's definitely too
small to be a silent butler. Also, the
"lid" opens in the wrong direction.
And the lid has dimples in it which would
have no purpose in a silent butler.

Mark Thorson said...

> Andy wrote:
>>
>> This time I'm fairly certain it's a an ashtray that the
>> help carries around the cocktail parties for guests to
>> extinguish their cigarettes or tip their ashes or both.
>
> That's called a "silent butler" and they are
> always available in many styles on eBay,
> usually antique and often in silver with
> fancy wood handles.
>
> Right now, there's 113 of them listed:
>
> http://search.ebay.com/silent-butler...Zm37QQfromZR40
>
> However, one thing they all have in common
> is they have enough capacity to hold the
> contents of an ashtray. This device is
> only 3 inches wide. It's definitely too
> small to be a silent butler. Also, the
> "lid" opens in the wrong direction.
> And the lid has dimples in it which would
> have no purpose in a silent butler.



It's an ashtray. I smoked long enough to recognize tar and nicotine crust
buildup and tarnish.

At formal cocktail parties of old where there were no tables and everyone
mingled, a set number of the staffer's only job was to carry these up to
guests for them to tap their ashes into and or let the smoker push it into
the dimples to extinguish the ember (maybe it was even the ashtray holder's
job to relieve them of the butt if handed over to extinguish it). Then when
the butt was out, the staffer would flip the plate up, tossing the butt in
the back of the tray and flip back. This kept the butts separate from the
ash collection area in the front. At some point this staffer would join up
with another staffer with a silent butler and empty the remains of the
"floating ashtray". It was in accordance with the opulence of the day.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Andy

Mark Thorson wrote:
> Seen recently on eBay:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>
> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>
> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
> and why would you do that?

No, I have the egg piercer. That is a tea bag squeezer!

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Giusi" > wrote in message
.. .
> Mark Thorson wrote:
>> Seen recently on eBay:
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>>
>> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>>
>> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
>> and why would you do that?
>
> No, I have the egg piercer. That is a tea bag squeezer!

<G>

Mark Thorson > wrote:

> Seen recently on eBay:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>
> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>
> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
> and why would you do that?

It is a typical lemon-wedge press, often used for tea with lemon.

Victor

Victor Sack wrote:
> Mark Thorson > wrote:
>
>> Seen recently on eBay:
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>>
>> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>>
>> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
>> and why would you do that?
>
> It is a typical lemon-wedge press, often used for tea with lemon.
>
> Victor

I have the same kind of thingy in my kitchen drawer. I used to have
some more, so that I could serve each person who asked for tea with
lemon his/her own wedge of lemon in the little squeezer. One by one I
gave them away, until I have only one left.

On Sat, 26 May 2007 22:39:46 +0200, Giusi > wrote:

>Mark Thorson wrote:
>> Seen recently on eBay:
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>>
>> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>>
>> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
>> and why would you do that?
>
>No, I have the egg piercer. That is a tea bag squeezer!

I'm with you Giusi, it's a tea bag squeezer.

Koko
---
http://kokoscorner.blogspot.com

"There is no love more sincere than the love of food"
George Bernard Shaw

Koko wrote:
>
> On Sat, 26 May 2007 22:39:46 +0200, Giusi > wrote:
>
> >No, I have the egg piercer. That is a tea bag squeezer!
>
> I'm with you Giusi, it's a tea bag squeezer.

Uh huh. Give the other leg a yank.

margaret suran wrote:
> Victor Sack wrote:
>
> > It is a typical lemon-wedge press, often used for tea with lemon.
>
>
> I have the same kind of thingy in my kitchen drawer. I used to have
> some more, so that I could serve each person who asked for tea with
> lemon his/her own wedge of lemon in the little squeezer. One by one I
> gave them away, until I have only one left.

I doubt it. No kraut uses lemons, they're all plenty sour enough from
birth... krauts bleed vinegar ya know.

Sheldon

>(Mark*Thorson)
>Seen recently on eBay:
>http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks, and why
>would you do that?
------------------------------------------------------
I don't have a clue what it is BUT asking over $5.00 shipping & opening
bid of $15.00 for a few ounces of rusted junk is why I seldom do E-bay
these days.

Mark Thorson wrote:
> Seen recently on eBay:
>
> http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149
>
> Is somebody pulling the seller's leg on this?
>
> Just how does this thing pierce egg yolks,
> and why would you do that?

Its a Mountain Oyster poacher. They came in sets of four
graduated sizes, from petite to majestic.

"ms. tonya" wrote:
>
> I don't have a clue what it is BUT asking over $5.00 shipping & opening
> bid of $15.00 for a few ounces of rusted junk is why I seldom do E-bay
> these days.

I get great deals on eBay all the time.
This just doesn't happen to be one of them.

"Mark Thorson" > wrote:
> "ms. tonya" wrote:
>>
>> I don't have a clue what it is BUT asking over $5.00 shipping & opening
>> bid of $15.00 for a few ounces of rusted junk is why I seldom do E-bay
>> these days.
>
> I get great deals on eBay all the time.
> This just doesn't happen to be one of them.

Yep, there are tons of deals out there if you know what you're looking for and
have an effective bidding strategy. Not getting caught up in bidding wars is one
of my most important rules. Even "rare, one of a kind" items seem to come up
again eventually. On "new" stuff, there are a lot of bad deals out there, often
at prices higher than one could get the same item for elsewhere.

I once bought a $25 piece of "rusted junk" (literally rusty) on eBay. I was the
only bidder. The item was incorrectly described as a two spouted cast iron
teapot. What it really was is a yellow dog derrick lamp from the early days of
the oil industry, back when Pennsylvania was the center of it. Obviously that
was in the 1800s. My $25 piece of rusty junk normally goes for a $75-$225 on
eBay. Misidentified items are some of the best deals on eBay.

By the way, that "few ounces of rusted junk" has recently been discounted by the
seller. The starting bid is now $9 instead of $15.

Sometimes if I don't like the price of an item, I just wait. Sellers don't
reduce the price that often while the listing is active, but they do so fairly
regularly if they relist. On several occassions I've waited until the item is
relisted and then bid on it at the reduced price. I got a $24.99 item for $14.99
in the last couple of weeks that way. I'm patient.

--
wff_ng_7 (at) verizon (dot) net

wff_ng_7 wrote:
>
> I once bought a $25 piece of "rusted junk" (literally rusty) on eBay. I was the
> only bidder. The item was incorrectly described as a two spouted cast iron
> teapot. What it really was is a yellow dog derrick lamp from the early days of
> the oil industry, back when Pennsylvania was the center of it. Obviously that
> was in the 1800s. My $25 piece of rusty junk normally goes for a $75-$225 on
> eBay. Misidentified items are some of the best deals on eBay.

One of my best "incorrect description" buys
is a supersonic wind tunnel model for the
F-106 Delta Dart. The seller had no clue
what it was, except that he thought it might
be part of a weapon. He found it in a junk
car he hauled for scrap. I paid $50 for it,
but I've seen similar items (properly described,
of course) sell in the thousands. An XB-70
wind tunnel model (admittedly a much nicer
piece than mine) recently sold for over $8000.

I don't know what mine would fetch, but I'm
tempted to find out.

eBay is great. I've been able to get just
about everything I've ever wanted, in some
cases more than one. I never thought I'd
ever own a copy of the IBM 7030 reference
manual, but I do. And the CDC 6600 and 7600
manuals. Two copies of the Cray-1 manual.
Life is sweet.

Too bad about the latest duck press.
http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ270122350003

Some people just love their bloody ducks,
I guess.

And one of you must have tipped off the
seller of the item which started this
thread.

http://cgi.ebay.com/_W0QQitemZ280118432149

He's changed the description from egg yolk
piercer to citrus juicer :-) and knocked
down the starting bid to $9. Still too
rich for me. :-)

"Mark Thorson" > wrote:
> wff_ng_7 wrote:
>>
>> I once bought a $25 piece of "rusted junk" (literally rusty) on eBay. I was
>> the
>> only bidder. The item was incorrectly described as a two spouted cast iron
>> teapot. What it really was is a yellow dog derrick lamp from the early days
>> of
>> the oil industry, back when Pennsylvania was the center of it. Obviously that
>> was in the 1800s. My $25 piece of rusty junk normally goes for a $75-$225 on
>> eBay. Misidentified items are some of the best deals on eBay.
>
> One of my best "incorrect description" buys
> is a supersonic wind tunnel model for the
> F-106 Delta Dart. The seller had no clue
> what it was, except that he thought it might
> be part of a weapon. He found it in a junk
> car he hauled for scrap. I paid $50 for it,
> but I've seen similar items (properly described,
> of course) sell in the thousands. An XB-70
> wind tunnel model (admittedly a much nicer
> piece than mine) recently sold for over $8000.
>
> I don't know what mine would fetch, but I'm
> tempted to find out.

I once saw something quite similar to that, but unfortunately the seller did
know what it was but I suspect had no idea of its value. It was a ship model
made by Bethlehem Steel. The model was of some Navy ship built in the 1960s, and
the model was made of steel and about 3 feet long. Bethlehem Steel built the
real ship in one of their shipyards. This model may have been used to get the
Navy contract. Because the model was listed correctly, it went for a pretty good
price (way more than I was willing to pay).

>
> eBay is great. I've been able to get just
> about everything I've ever wanted, in some
> cases more than one. I never thought I'd
> ever own a copy of the IBM 7030 reference
> manual, but I do. And the CDC 6600 and 7600
> manuals. Two copies of the Cray-1 manual.
> Life is sweet.

At least I know what those machines are! ;-) I used a CDC 6400 in college and
later worked on a Cray Y-MP with a VAX 9000 front end. I've got a DECsystem-10
hardware reference manual from a similar era (30+ years ago), but I didn't get
it off eBay.

There is an almost unbelievable assortment of good "junk" on eBay. I got a
service manual for the 1971 Plymouth Duster I had. I got a beautiful book on
Bryn Athyn Cathedral that I wanted so much 35 years ago, but couldn't afford at
the time. I got it on eBay for $15, which I know is way less than what it
originally sold for, without even taking inflation into account. On more recent
items, I got a brand new in box draft fan motor for my furnace for 40% less that
the lowest price I could find for it elsewhere on the internet. There are so
many oddball things I'd like to get on eBay, so I really have to restrain
myself! ;-)

--
wff_ng_7 (at) verizon (dot) net

"wff_ng_7" > wrote:
> "Mark Thorson" > wrote:
>> eBay is great. I've been able to get just
>> about everything I've ever wanted, in some
>> cases more than one. I never thought I'd
>> ever own a copy of the IBM 7030 reference
>> manual, but I do. And the CDC 6600 and 7600
>> manuals. Two copies of the Cray-1 manual.
>> Life is sweet.
>
> At least I know what those machines are! ;-) I used a CDC 6400 in college and
> later worked on a Cray Y-MP with a VAX 9000 front end. I've got a DECsystem-10
> hardware reference manual from a similar era (30+ years ago), but I didn't get
> it off eBay.

Out of curiosity, I looked up the Cray Y-MP on wikipedia. Wouldn't you know, the
picture of the Cray Y-MP in the wikipedia article is the very one I worked on at
Goddard Space Flight Center:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Y-MP_GSFC.jpg

--
wff_ng_7 (at) verizon (dot) net

wff_ng_7 wrote:
>
> There are so many oddball things I'd like to get on eBay,
> so I really have to restrain myself! ;-)

Yeah, all those empty boxes full of styrofoam peanuts
really are a nuisance, aren't they?