Obsolete, Obscure, or Outdated Quiz

Answer: Church key

This type of bottle opener is usually called a church key or churchkey. There are many different types of church keys and at one time they could be found in almost every 20th century home. Most bottled beverages required the use of this implement to remove their tops, as screw tops were not in use.

Answer: Bellows

This photo shows a pair of fireplace bellows. They are designed to provide a blast of air, to help enflame the sparks and embers in a fireplace. They were vitally important when fire was the primary source of heating and cooking. Bellows consist of a pliable bag sandwiched between two handles. Bellows can be used for a variety of jobs in which high heat is needed.

They can be found at forges, smelters, and smithies. Bellows can also be found in cameras, aqua-lungs, and anesthesia machines.

Answer: Lazy Susan

This photo depicts an antique lazy susan, sometimes also called a dumb waiter. It is a rotating tray on which finger foods or other small food items were placed. Diners were able to turn the tray and retrieve their choices without having to pick up the tray.

Some lazy susans were flat on the bottom just like a plate with the revolving disk hidden underneath. They could be made of wood, metal, or ceramic.

Answer: Toaster

This is the photo of a beautiful Kalorik toaster. The doors of the toaster fold down and a piece of bread was attached. The doors were closed and a central heating element toasted one side of the bread. The doors were folded down, the bread was turned over and the process was done again so that both sides of the bread were toasted.

This was the most common type of toaster until the advent of the pop-up toaster in the 1940s.

Answer: Television

"Rabbit ears" are simply small television antennas and are usually found sitting on top of the TV set. More properly called dipoles, these antennae help television reception and for many years were found in every home that had a television. While they are still used today, cable and satellite television broadcasting has made them fairly obsolete.

Answer: To make copies

Carbon paper was used to make duplicate copies before the advent of the computer, the photocopier, and the Xerox. It was simply a piece of paper that was coated on one side with powdered carbon or dry ink and a little bit of wax was to hold the powder in place. Whatever was typed onto the top paper was duplicated onto the second sheet. Carbon paper was messy, but it did the job and was considered to be a wonderful invention when it came out.

Answer: Ice box

This is an ice box, a precursor to the modern refrigerator/freezer. The food was put into the cubicle behind the large door. A large block of ice was put into the small door at the top. This appliance was not electrified and the cooling of the food took place because of the ice in the top.

At one time home delivery of large blocks of ice was commonplace and very profitable. There was usually a drainage dish underneath to catch the water from the ice block as it melted.

Answer: Candle snuffer

This scissor-like implement is known as a candle snuffer. The flat blades were used to cut the burning wick which would then fall into the small attached receptacle. This tool became obsolete when the self-snuffing candle wick was invented. While this is a simple utilitarian candle snuffer, many were very elaborately decorated and made of precious metals.

Answer: Butter

This item is known as a barrel churn and it was used to make butter. This was at a time when butter was made at home and not bought at the grocery store down the street. Milk was poured into the churn and paddles inside were turned with the outside handle. Churns have been used since Biblical times.

The barrel churn was considered by many to be one of the major household innovations of the 18th century. Churning was a tedious job that took hours of work and lots of arm strength.

Answer: Grinding coffee

For hundreds of years Americans and Europeans bought their coffee in the form of roasted coffee beans. These beans were taken home and poured into a grinder, like the one in the photo, to make them ready for use. Beans were usually not ground until the consumer was ready to make the pot of coffee.

The round globe on the top can be opened and beans were poured in on top of metal blades similar to the ones seen today in the average household blender. The handle was cranked in order to get these blades to spin.

The beans could be ground as coarse or as fine, as you, the consumer, wanted them to be. These machines were so sturdy and well built that many of them still exist today, fully capable of doing the job for which they were designed.