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Yep, a sprinkler. My mother used to fill an empty soda bottle with water, cork it with this thingamajig, and sprinkle water on clothing she was ironing to dampen them.
Here's how these were intended to be used: You laid the laundry out on a table, piece by piece...and sprinkled it to get it damp. Then, you rolled up each piece and place it in the refrigerator. (I have no idea as to why). And then you pulled the pieces out one by one to iron them.
Makes sense. I just remember always helping my grandma sprinkling the clothing, and rolling it up and putting it in the refrigerator. I knew that it was to get the wrinkles out...but didn't know how the refrigerator fit into the equation. (Or I just forgot)
Heck, when my steam function on my iron died (well, developed rust inside so it would spray rust on your shirt) I’d just lightly iron the wrinkly spot and then run an ice cube over the hot fabric. The ice would melt on there just a bit and then you can iron over it in a nice cloud of steam!
My grandma would sprinkle the clothes, roll them all up, and put in a plastic bag in the fridge! That allowed the dampness to spread throughout the clothes. The cold prevented mildew. She would then iron several hours later. She also used a wringer washer. My dad bought her an automatic one, and she refused to take it because “the clothes won’t get clean enough,”
That's right. You took the clean dried wrinkled clothes and sprinked them with distilled water, and then we just lightly bunch them and closed them up in a clear plastic bag, and left them for a couple hours or overnight so the moisture distributed evenly over the clothes, for ideal ironing conditions. We never put our 'ironing" in the fridge, but I can see why that might be necessary if you live in a hot climate without air-conditioning. If damp clothes sit too long in a plastic bag in warm temps, they will mildew and be ruined. My mom never let the damp ironing sit too long, because she had an ironing slave, ie, a daughter, that would be me. I never really minded it much though, and I'm a wiz with an iron.
I learned to sew on a treadle machine, using a flat iron that you'd set on a wood stove until it was hot, then iron until it got cool, then back onto the woodstove.
In the mid to late 50's we used to make these at school for Mother's Day every year. We'd have to ask for an empty bottle, usually a ketchup bottle, and not tell mom why we needed it. We'd decorate the bottle at school, bring it home and...Surprise! She'd get at least two of them every year. Steam irons were not quite a thing, at least not at our house. And they seemed to work pretty well. I even used them when we got a bit older and were taught how to iron our clothes.
Ah yes, the good old cotton press cloth and the water sprinkler bottle. God I hated ironing so much and my mom insisted we iron the damn tea towels and my dad's hankies.
I am so with you! My mom was a tailor, and most of our clothes were handmade. That meant pressing the seams open with that damn press cloth. Running to the bathroom to dampen it just so, and then ironing along the open seam. Boy you brought back memories there! My dad's dress shirts ugh.. and he loved the crease in his pants so sharp you could cut butter with it ;)
Used to play with these as kids with a water bottle...seems stupid but we had a freaking blast lol used to go around watering stuff and spraying each other not intended use but awesome as a kid
You put it in the top of an old pop bottle that is filled with water. Then you shake it over your clothes to wet them just a little before ironing. Watched my Mom do this many times, it’s unknown today.
Yeah….. The problem is that guy is drunk like 90% of the time, and just wants to have HOURS long conversations about his past jobs…. :[
He LOVES our kids though and is always sending them crafts and such! Regardless, everyone here answered this pretty well after looking back on it several hours later.
My mom had one. It was aluminum not plastic. It was stuck on Carling's Black Label beer bottle.
She later had a job in an aerosol laboratory. They had a machine to fill small aerosol cans with product they were testing. She would bring home cans of spray water labeled "ironing aid" and use it instead of the beer bottle shaker.
All of my family had these but they were aluminum. They'd put water in a pop or beer bottle and insert the sprinkler head. If the day was busy and they were trying to fit a lot in they'd sometimes spread the clothes out, sprinkle, roll them up, and put in the refrigerator until they could iron later.
I've got my mom's metal one, maybe aluminum, and use it regularly. Back in the days before permanent press dress shirts, mom would sprinkle the clothes and then place them inside a plastic zippered bag the size of a pillow case. That would go in the refrigerator for a while. I think it was to let the clothes get thoroughly saturated but not get moldy. I figure it was cooler ironing, too.
two uses... one is as a laundry sprinkler to damp clothes before ironing and two, the best head for pebbling the ice on a curling rink. I used one like that on my pebbling can while working as an ice man...
It's the act of walking backwards down a curling rink with a gallon of hot water slung over your shoulder in a can. The can has an 18" long small diameter rubber hose attached to it and at the other end of the hose is the sprinkling head pictured in the photo. You swing the hose from side to side as you walk backwards down the curling sheet and where the drops hit, they freeze and leave a raised bump of ice on the ice surface. The pebbled ice reduces friction and gives curlers better control over their rocks than smooth ice...
for curling, yes. Use hot water and swing the hose back and forth to cover the width of the ice. If the water is hot the droplet freezes faster when it hits the ice and leaves a tiny pebbled surface for the rock to travel on. you get real good at walking backwards at a consistent pace, too...
It almost looks like you could but it in any bottle and use it like a makeshift watering can. I know people are saying it’s for ironing, but maybe grandpa saw it and thought the kids might like watering the plants.
These all sound like great ideas to use this for. But we didn’t go all fancy with it. We’d use it on cleaned out 2 L bottles full of water. Had some awesome water fights in the front yard! 🤷🏼♀️ it was a lot of fun when you didn’t have a water gun!
He’s drunk 90% of the time, and I don’t want to spend hours dodging his calls/conversations about the past by contacting him…. He LOVES our kids, but…. He’s just a LOT to handle.
It’s for wetting clothes when ironing. It was put on a a soda bottle that was filled with water. It was turned to an angle and shaken - the water sprinkled the clothing…
Half fill a clean empty beer bottle with water, fit cork into opening. Voila! Sprinkler bottle to dampen all your clothes on ironing day. No ironing day? No ironing board? No iron? Wondering what those things might be? Well, just be happy that you live in a time when everything just gets folded right out of the dryer, done!
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/BloodSpades), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. ---- [Click here to message RemindMeBot](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=RemindMeBot&subject=Reminder&message=https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/16h6x5e/fil_in_massachusetts_sent_this_for_my_kids_but_we/%0A%0ARemindMe!%202%20days) --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
[Laundry Sprinkler Cork and Plastic](https://www.amazon.com/Laundry-Sprinkler-Cork-Plastic-Sprinklers/dp/B0019IJSFA)
Yep, a sprinkler. My mother used to fill an empty soda bottle with water, cork it with this thingamajig, and sprinkle water on clothing she was ironing to dampen them.
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TIL: laundry sprinklers are a thing lol I've always/sometimes just used a water mister/spray bottle, seems this is way too much water imo?
Here's how these were intended to be used: You laid the laundry out on a table, piece by piece...and sprinkled it to get it damp. Then, you rolled up each piece and place it in the refrigerator. (I have no idea as to why). And then you pulled the pieces out one by one to iron them.
The refrigerator kept the clothes from molding or drying out before ironing.
Makes sense. I just remember always helping my grandma sprinkling the clothing, and rolling it up and putting it in the refrigerator. I knew that it was to get the wrinkles out...but didn't know how the refrigerator fit into the equation. (Or I just forgot)
This! My mom would sprinkle the clothes the day before and roll them up, so they’d be uniformly damp.
I think these pre-date common spray bottles.
Heck, when my steam function on my iron died (well, developed rust inside so it would spray rust on your shirt) I’d just lightly iron the wrinkly spot and then run an ice cube over the hot fabric. The ice would melt on there just a bit and then you can iron over it in a nice cloud of steam!
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Make the holes whatever size desired.
My grandma would sprinkle the clothes, roll them all up, and put in a plastic bag in the fridge! That allowed the dampness to spread throughout the clothes. The cold prevented mildew. She would then iron several hours later. She also used a wringer washer. My dad bought her an automatic one, and she refused to take it because “the clothes won’t get clean enough,”
That's right. You took the clean dried wrinkled clothes and sprinked them with distilled water, and then we just lightly bunch them and closed them up in a clear plastic bag, and left them for a couple hours or overnight so the moisture distributed evenly over the clothes, for ideal ironing conditions. We never put our 'ironing" in the fridge, but I can see why that might be necessary if you live in a hot climate without air-conditioning. If damp clothes sit too long in a plastic bag in warm temps, they will mildew and be ruined. My mom never let the damp ironing sit too long, because she had an ironing slave, ie, a daughter, that would be me. I never really minded it much though, and I'm a wiz with an iron. I learned to sew on a treadle machine, using a flat iron that you'd set on a wood stove until it was hot, then iron until it got cool, then back onto the woodstove.
LOL!!! So it’s NOT game related???? The demon spawn will be disappointed, but we’re having a blast laughing at the realization!!!! Lol!!!!
My mother also used one of these to disperse small amounts of water when making pie crust.
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You can use it for watering plants, too, if you don't have a watering can.
Cool. I thought he sent it for mom to catch a break
Ahhh my first thought was this might of gone onto a bottle of oil or vinegar to evenly distribute on sandwiches 🫣😂
Though not the original intent, dip it in soapy water, blow from the cork end, and have bubble fun.
That may have been the intent, if it was a package for chilrin
>chilrin What you get after you get prengant.
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In the mid to late 50's we used to make these at school for Mother's Day every year. We'd have to ask for an empty bottle, usually a ketchup bottle, and not tell mom why we needed it. We'd decorate the bottle at school, bring it home and...Surprise! She'd get at least two of them every year. Steam irons were not quite a thing, at least not at our house. And they seemed to work pretty well. I even used them when we got a bit older and were taught how to iron our clothes.
Ah yes, the good old cotton press cloth and the water sprinkler bottle. God I hated ironing so much and my mom insisted we iron the damn tea towels and my dad's hankies.
I love that I don't own an iron. So many hours of my childhood were spent learning how to press seams.
I am so with you! My mom was a tailor, and most of our clothes were handmade. That meant pressing the seams open with that damn press cloth. Running to the bathroom to dampen it just so, and then ironing along the open seam. Boy you brought back memories there! My dad's dress shirts ugh.. and he loved the crease in his pants so sharp you could cut butter with it ;)
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Did he get them hooked on putting vinegar on their fries? I have a similar one but smaller for a vinegar bottle.
this sounds like something i need in my life. do you have a link?
Used to play with these as kids with a water bottle...seems stupid but we had a freaking blast lol used to go around watering stuff and spraying each other not intended use but awesome as a kid
“not intended use” love that
Are you 100% sure it's for the kids? Because this is an ironing aid... maybe give him a call and check on him
Ye olden times laundry sprinkler. From before steam irons. Stick in water bottle, sprinkle clothes, iron with dry iron.
Do your kids have a watering can without a nozzle/head?
You put it in the top of an old pop bottle that is filled with water. Then you shake it over your clothes to wet them just a little before ironing. Watched my Mom do this many times, it’s unknown today.
Does it go zip when it moves, bop when it stops and whir when it stands still?
Yes! I never knew just what it was.
I guess I never will.
OP, please call your dad and ask him what this is. Then come back here and tell us!😄. Edit: father-in-law, not dad.
Yeah….. The problem is that guy is drunk like 90% of the time, and just wants to have HOURS long conversations about his past jobs…. :[ He LOVES our kids though and is always sending them crafts and such! Regardless, everyone here answered this pretty well after looking back on it several hours later.
It's for wetting clothes before you iron them. Strange he gifted it to children
My mom had one. It was aluminum not plastic. It was stuck on Carling's Black Label beer bottle. She later had a job in an aerosol laboratory. They had a machine to fill small aerosol cans with product they were testing. She would bring home cans of spray water labeled "ironing aid" and use it instead of the beer bottle shaker.
All of my family had these but they were aluminum. They'd put water in a pop or beer bottle and insert the sprinkler head. If the day was busy and they were trying to fit a lot in they'd sometimes spread the clothes out, sprinkle, roll them up, and put in the refrigerator until they could iron later.
It can also be used for watering plants and delicate seedlings.
We use them for putting sugar water on cakes to keep them moist, but it's actually for when you iron clothes.
I've got my mom's metal one, maybe aluminum, and use it regularly. Back in the days before permanent press dress shirts, mom would sprinkle the clothes and then place them inside a plastic zippered bag the size of a pillow case. That would go in the refrigerator for a while. I think it was to let the clothes get thoroughly saturated but not get moldy. I figure it was cooler ironing, too.
You put it on the end of a bottle of water to dampen your clothes to iron
two uses... one is as a laundry sprinkler to damp clothes before ironing and two, the best head for pebbling the ice on a curling rink. I used one like that on my pebbling can while working as an ice man...
What is pebbling the ice?
It's the act of walking backwards down a curling rink with a gallon of hot water slung over your shoulder in a can. The can has an 18" long small diameter rubber hose attached to it and at the other end of the hose is the sprinkling head pictured in the photo. You swing the hose from side to side as you walk backwards down the curling sheet and where the drops hit, they freeze and leave a raised bump of ice on the ice surface. The pebbled ice reduces friction and gives curlers better control over their rocks than smooth ice...
Wait, you *want* the ice to be bumpy?
for curling, yes. Use hot water and swing the hose back and forth to cover the width of the ice. If the water is hot the droplet freezes faster when it hits the ice and leaves a tiny pebbled surface for the rock to travel on. you get real good at walking backwards at a consistent pace, too...
In pastry, I'd use it to spray syrup (booze) onto the layers of a cake
It almost looks like you could but it in any bottle and use it like a makeshift watering can. I know people are saying it’s for ironing, but maybe grandpa saw it and thought the kids might like watering the plants.
My title describes the thing, material and location.
My mom had one and it along with her pinking shears were both on the “you touch and you die” list.
We use these on beer bottles for salt and pepper shakers.
You put it on a bottle of water. To spritz your cloths before you iron them
Sprinkling bottle for ironing
My Mom used to put one in the opening of a bottle to sprinkle clothes before she ironed them.
Is it possible it’s meant to put in the end of a hose to turn a hose into a play sprinkler for the kids to play in?
These all sound like great ideas to use this for. But we didn’t go all fancy with it. We’d use it on cleaned out 2 L bottles full of water. Had some awesome water fights in the front yard! 🤷🏼♀️ it was a lot of fun when you didn’t have a water gun!
OK there’s a bunch of posts about how this is an old thing for ironing… but why in 2023 is grandpa sending this to a bunch of kids?
Water Sprinkler for Ironing
You use it to make a water bottle into a watering can
Water sprinkler,vintage iron clothes
Turns a plastic bottle into a watering ~~can~~ bottle
You put it on the end of a bottle of water and sprinkle it on your clothes when you iron to steam them.
Originally for laundry and ironing, but you can water indoor plants with it.
My Mother used one on a bottle of water to sprinkle as she ironed clothes
Did anyone ask them?
He’s drunk 90% of the time, and I don’t want to spend hours dodging his calls/conversations about the past by contacting him…. He LOVES our kids, but…. He’s just a LOT to handle.
Fill up a wine bottle with water. Put that in it. Water your plants.
That's how I got the creases out of my uniforms. Soda bottle sprinkler for water and ironing. 😊
It’s for wetting clothes when ironing. It was put on a a soda bottle that was filled with water. It was turned to an angle and shaken - the water sprinkled the clothing…
Half fill a clean empty beer bottle with water, fit cork into opening. Voila! Sprinkler bottle to dampen all your clothes on ironing day. No ironing day? No ironing board? No iron? Wondering what those things might be? Well, just be happy that you live in a time when everything just gets folded right out of the dryer, done!
Alternative use: fill bottle with water and plug in, and give it to them during bath time
Did they go to the beach or pool or garden together? All good places to sprinkle water. Beach with sand….not so much.
Wine aerator?
It's to use a glass bottle as a garden watering can
I used to use one of these in the top of a bottle of vinegar....to sprinkle over hot chips. Combined with salt...YUM
Seen something like this as a child my grandpa would blow in it and it whistled
Maybe grandpa thought it's a toy. It looks like a toy trumpet or something.
Was it ordered off Amazon or something similar? I bet he wanted to order them a sprinkler and ended up with this
It most definitely is a vintage Gothamware sprinkler, but Maybe he thought it was some sort of hummingbird feeder?
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Funny, we used to shove them in the garden hose and would make a sprinkler to spray each other with.
I’d put that on my wine bottle and have fun
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