Ever See One Of These ??? (kitchen gadget)

[Mark Thorson]

Another eBayer has already identified it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170405929335

I'm wondering how old it is. Brillo and S.O.S disposable
scouring pads were both introduced in 1917, so I think
this item is likely to have become obsolete during
the 1920's or 1930's. I wonder when they were last
manufactured.

[Doug Freyburger]

If it were big it would be a rug beater. Hang a throw rug out on a
clothes line and use the rug beater to whack the dirt out of it.

[ntantiques]

Somebody's probably still making them - and if they aren't already,
bet they will be - they're "green" and they work pretty darn well.
Disposable scouring pads may have been available, but until we became
an out of control "disposable" society in the 50's & '60's I think
they were a bit of a luxury item. In the '50's my Mom, a child of the
Depression and champion penny pincher, used a "modern" reusable hand
held scrubber made of tightly coiled metal threads and Babo powder,
but both Grandma's used versions of the ebay gizmo. Earlier ones
usually had wooden handles, the one on ebay looked like aluminum, so
am guessing it was made after WWII.
Nancy T

[Lynn from Fargo]

I always thought it was an egg beater - especially for whipping egg
whites into meringue. My folks were "collectors" and we acquired a
very old one of these in the 60s. I never tried it. Didn't want to
be responsible for trying to clean it!
Lynn in Fargo