Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

At Last I Have Found Something that has Stumped All of Us.

Guessing game stumper

Clever guesses that you gave for the French Antique Guessing Game!

If it weren't what I know it to be, it would definitely be one or two of the brilliant guesses you gave yesterday.

I knew, just knew this would be the one that stumped everyone!!

Since the answer hasn't been found I will add a few clues.

Please keep guessing….

 

1) It has nothing to do with feathers. Sorry for misleading you.

2) It holds something.

3) It could make certain busy people who, "do what this thing is used for", moments more relaxing.

4) I have no need for it.

 

 

More clues later if the right answer isn't found….

 

Comments

79 responses to “At Last I Have Found Something that has Stumped All of Us.”

  1. trisha

    Is it a cigarette holder?

    Reply
  2. T

    Is it a knitting stitch marker?

    Reply
  3. Smee

    roach clip.
    lol, just sayin’ this looks rather familiar thinking back to high school in the art department.
    and no, never smoked, never even “didn’t inhale”, just hung out with a lot of folks who did! lol

    Reply
  4. Laura Lee Johnston

    Taking a very wild guess here: it’s a librarian’s or file clerk’s clip, used to clip on to the last card or file they were working on? This is really a stumper!

    Reply
  5. Rae Lange

    is it used to hold the nose in smelly bathrooms??
    this would be before air fresheners – LOL

    Reply
  6. Liese Lotte

    It was used to pick up a sugar cube. I´ve actually got one myself – a present from my mother-in-law.

    Reply
  7. Jean

    Is it used to sort/separate embroidery threads?

    Reply
  8. WR

    You slip it on your finger and use the pincers to pluck your chin hairs. Less tiring if you have a lot of chin hair.

    Reply
  9. Rosemary P

    Is it used to hold bugs when you mount them as a collector.

    Reply
  10. Rosemary P

    It is to hold stamps as you mount them into your collectors album.

    Reply
  11. Massilianana

    All right – let’s get serious here. In the hoop you’d slide a silk ribbon to tie around the wrist for instance. And the little hands were used to hold a small ball note pad ( carnet de bal). And it made elegant ladies more relaxed during a ball because they could have a look at the guys names on their list and there would be not risk of mixing up John for the third waltz with Tom for the fifth polka.
    More seriously was it not used to hold a ball gown’s train ?

    Reply
  12. Lorraine

    It’s used to hold a match, so you can light multiple candles without burning your fingers!

    Reply
  13. Patti

    …To hold your place in a book?

    Reply
  14. Patti

    ….to hold your cigarette in the bath…. The ring goes on your finger, the hands hold the cigarette.

    Reply
  15. Sheri

    Are they little tongs worn on a chatelaine to hoist up a long skirt hem when crossing a dirty street?

    Reply
  16. Paulita

    Since you can’t use it, I’m guess it has something to do with eating meat, but my mind goes no further.

    Reply
  17. Kim W.

    Roach clip!
    But I see that’s been guessed. 🙂

    Reply
  18. Betty K

    Is it used to pick up bugs before one goes to bed or sits in a chair?

    Reply
  19. Samantha Feist

    Needle threader??

    Reply
  20. Sol

    hmm Napkin holder for around the neck

    Reply
  21. Carol L

    Is it a yard holder to use while knitting ? The yard is threaded through the loop and the clip is attached to your apron/garment.

    Reply
  22. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    Based solely on your clue “I have no need of it” I will guess a device to extract marrow out of bones.
    However I far prefer roach clip.
    How elegant it is, whatever its purpose.

    Reply
  23. Nancy W.

    It holds false eyelashes for you so that you may apply them to your eyelids.

    Reply
  24. lucy

    Pickle tongs?
    Laughs Lucy!

    Reply
  25. Susan

    Is it used to hold your hem while you mend or sew it?

    Reply
  26. Woe2mann

    A sugar cube holder or a candy mint holder, to dispense .

    Reply
  27. Woe2mann

    Having tea;)

    Reply
  28. Jeannie

    Going out on a limb here. Is it an artist paper holder? The hands would hold the paper and the loop would go over a hook on an easel?

    Reply
  29. Debbie

    Is it a feather plucker when you are preparing to roast the bird?

    Reply
  30. Debbie

    Alas only now I see it has nothing to do with feathers!

    Reply
  31. Claudia

    Okay, it is/was used to pick up some delicious lemon rind, or peppermint or ? and swirl it in your tea, holding onto the ring at one end. You can also wear the ring around your finger and lazily twirl the lemon, sugar, chocolate, peppermint, etc. in your hot beverage.

    Reply
  32. Gail

    Lol the guesses are fabulous, thinking a clip for holding something.. But not sure what! Fun.

    Reply
  33. Lil

    Antique Silver Snuff Holder!

    Reply
  34. Violet Cadburry

    A painter uses it to hold tiny hairs to paint the whites of eyeballs.

    Reply
  35. Violet Cadburry

    Maybe a tattoo artist tool for holding red hot needles?

    Reply
  36. Lil

    Or for a bit of tobacco for a chaw, or dare I suggest cocaine?….

    Reply
  37. Leigh NZ

    Curtain rings…You would have a number of these with the loops through a curtain rod; the little hands would hang down holding a softly gathered fine lawn curtain allowing a busy person to get a little more shut eye.

    Reply
  38. Violet Cadburry

    Waiters who take orders in restaurants clip the order on this and slide it to the kitchen on a line so the chef can get cooking pronto

    Reply
  39. Violet Cadburry

    This is driving me crazy….is it a moustache crimper a’ la Poirot?

    Reply
  40. Violet Cadburry

    a quilting tool, but I don’t quilt so I have no idea how that would be useful…

    Reply
  41. Gin

    It is to hold the hem of your gown, then placed on a finger of the hand which is held on the man’s shoulder, thus lifting your hem sufficiently to avoid tripping whilst dancing and this certainly would be more relaxing!
    I owned one, a long time ago and eventually found an antique dealer who could tell me what it was, I hope it’s true.

    Reply
  42. Shirley

    Is it to retrieve an egg from boiling water?
    Shirley
    Atlanta, GA
    USA

    Reply
  43. Gin

    Ignore my previous comment, I now realise it may have lifted the hem a “little” too high!
    On reflection, perhaps to hold the edge of your cuff or sleeve, to keep it above the food or table when dining.

    Reply
  44. Diogenes

    Is it for snuff or chewing tobacco?

    Reply
  45. Kathy

    Is it for holding sheet music?

    Reply
  46. Priscilla

    You can see I’ve been thinking about this. Was it for holding part of the hair for fancy hair braiding or bunning or crimping? I can imagine a maidservant or the lady in waiting doing the misrress’ hair and it being a tool to help with that.

    Reply
  47. Mahala

    Is it to hold a pencil?

    Reply
  48. Mahala

    Is it used to hang laundry? Clip the end to the clothing and the round hangs on a dowel or rope.

    Reply
  49. Patti

    Could it be used by a stamp collector to hold the valued stamp to be examined without tainting it with a fingerprint?

    Reply
  50. Mahala

    Do you clip it to a piece of clothing, then hang your glasses from it by putting the glasses arm through the round end?

    Reply
  51. Patti

    Actually, I was going to ask if it would have been used by an OB/GYN, but I suspect it predates Pap tests. Ewww. Sorry if that was too graphic.

    Reply
  52. Mahala

    Is it used to hold a paintbrush?

    Reply
  53. Pat Kahn

    I think one uses this for stamps.

    Reply
  54. Cathy

    It’s either a booger picker because only guys pick their nose in public or nasal hair trimmers!

    Reply
  55. ken dunson

    holds bed covering up just above the reclined body

    Reply
  56. ken dunson

    incense holder

    Reply
  57. Gin

    It is an antique Skirt Lift.
    It was tied to the waist/belt by a cord/ribbon through the ring and the “hands” or clasp would hold the hem at the desired height from the floor or ground/mud.
    Used for dancing/bicycling/tennis.

    Reply
  58. Ana María

    You may have no need for it now, but it sure would have come in handy when you were nursing Chelsea and Sacha a few years back! The clip is used to hold open your blouse and the ring goes around the breast nipple. This was especially useful when mothers had other little children running around as it left one hand free to hold on to the older child. It was even helpful for first-time mothers as it left the other hand free to stir the porridge as they nursed their baby.

    Reply
  59. Vicki from Willows

    Hello Corey. Is it a Glove Clip ?? Greetings from Willows 🙂

    Reply
  60. Clare

    It is used to hold the spool while you thread a needle.

    Reply
  61. Jennifer

    I like the skirt clip idea the best but also wondered if it was for grabbing firmly the ears of naughty children, a very “hands off” approach.

    Reply
  62. Celeste

    Used by old women to discipline that unruly child at church or to look refined and collected whilst disciplining your own little angel who throws them self on the floor screaming in the midst of a sermon. It was the multi-tool of the age also used by nuns to remove Johny from the room by the ear thus not having physical contact.

    Reply
  63. Marlis

    a cigarette holder ?

    Reply
  64. Dd

    It holds escargot

    Reply
  65. NancyO.

    It holds a stamp; used by stamp collectors.

    Reply
  66. Marie-Noëlle

    I would go for Gin’s reply… In French : un “saute-ruisseau” ou “relève-jupe”… meant to hold a skirt up before crossing a muddy or dusty street…

    Reply
  67. Charlotte

    Is it a pair of very fancy tweezers?!

    Reply
  68. martina

    To hold a sewing thread or bit of yarn in limbo while another color is being used? Same function but to hold an artist’s brush.
    To hold a page up in a book for readers with poor vision.

    Reply
  69. carol

    It must be a cigarette holder.

    Reply
  70. Barbara

    Is it for stamp collecting…the round end used to hold a magnifying glass and the hands act as tweezers?

    Reply
  71. Christina

    Ha!
    It’s for the sneaky guys that visit their loved ones living in upper floors… in the early morning hours you can see them use this device to clip themselves onto the laundry lines and “zip line” over the thorny rosebushes to safety without waking the parents
    :o)

    Reply
  72. Kristin Yates

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=skirt+lifter
    Looks like a skirt lifter

    Reply
  73. Ed in Willows

    Used to tie flies for fishing?

    Reply
  74. Charland

    Used to hold a napkin for messy easters. The ring goes around a button.

    Reply
  75. Linda S.

    Is it a tool that a doctor would use to remove tonsils? An antique one?
    Linda S

    Reply
  76. Linda S.

    This is my second guess. I haven’t looked through all of the comments yet to see if someone already guessed what I have but here goes.
    Could it be an extra pair of hands which could be used to hold something that has been glued in place and together while the glue is drying therefore freeing up the person’s own pair of hands to be doing something else? It would probably be something delicate as with jewelry, crafts or any number of things.

    Reply
  77. FrenchBlue

    a Roach Clip for sure:))

    Reply
  78. cyntia gautier

    I think it is a sugar lump holder…..one lump at a time.

    Reply
  79. Bonnie

    i believe it’s a tool used by stamp collectors, to pick up postage stamps (gently.

    Reply

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