Below are 15 curiosities that recently stumped their finders until someone with a little gray hair—or a knack for sleuthing—supplied the answer. See how many you recognize.
Every so often you clean out a closet, open an old trunk, or sort through a relative’s estate and—there it is. A small metal gizmo, a funny-shaped bottle, a tool that looks useful but utterly unfamiliar. You turn it over in your hands and wonder, What on earth did people do with this?