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I found this buried in my garden. It’s steel, with some flecks of galvanization still visible here and there. Definitely stamped from sheet stock originally, the ring is welded, and it’s especially interesting to me that the right “foot” of the little “table” cutout is narrower than the left one, as if it’s keyed to connect to something in a single direction.

Ideas so far:

  • livestock tag (we live near ooold stockyards)
  • cremains tag (spooky)
  • key fob/id (but why the welded ring?)

Does anyone know what it really is?

Edit: in retrospect maybe this isn’t the right community for this? I’m not sure “what is this thing” qualifies as open ended, but I also really want to know the answer.

  • @nickajeglinOP
    5•1 year ago

    Ah cool thanks! Do you know what the cutout mates up with? I see in your screenshots that they’re all keyed various ways, I’m guessing they went into some kind of punch machine or something along those lines?

    Edit: best I found is from here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US1859307

    To facilitate the reassembly of the articles in customers groups, tag holders are provided, and to make confusion impossible, these holders are provided with characteristic admittance means, the tags having similar characteristic admittance means so that only-the tags of a certain number (and therefore of 'a certain customer) may be assembled on the holder having that number.

    Makes it sound like there was a sort of rail that matched the cutout to mistake proof putting one person’s tagged clothes bags back together after they were laundered.

    • em2
      2•1 year ago

      Good find. I kept noticing different patent numbers on them and was a little confused, since the safety pin has its own patent and was created before these things. To further my confusion, I also found this page which shows a key attached to the pin.

      Very interesting rabbit hole!