I recently picked this up as part of a box lot at an auction. It is engraved Ansonia with a patent date of 1905 on one handle. On the other is a sliding button that will hold it closed.

It looks to me like a fingernail clipper although it is too dull to be much good. Is it perhaps a clamp of some kind? It is 2" long.

Jack

Very strange tool Jack. Ansonia was a pretty popular name. It may not have anything to do with the clockmakers. I hope someone out there can solve the "What is it?"

Tom Seymour
NAWCC #41293
IHC #104
IHC Exec.V.P.

Jack,

A number of years ago at a convention, the feature display was products of the Ansonia Clock company, as well as the Ansonia Brass & Copper Co. These two companies were associated. One of the featured items at that exhibit was a PAIL stamped Ansonia! So, it could be that your item was not produced by the clock company. This, plus Ansonia was (is?) the name of a town on Connecticut. Could the name simply mean it was MADE in Ansonia?

Doug S.

It IS a fingernail clipper; I have two or three pairs like it, although I'm not certain of its connection to the Ansoina Clock Company.

In the days before the invention of the "Gem" type clippers, there were scores of interesting "Rube Goldberg" types, which make an interesting collection in and of themselves.

Of all the types I've seen and/or used, the best I've found are "Greist Ideal," which were patented in 1912. They have a compound lever action, which allows them to cut through the thickest fingernail or toenail with the greatest of ease. I've often wondered why the type disappeared, as they're actually far superior to any that are currently available, but perhaps they simply weren't economical to produce.

Another interesting "over-engineered" item is a "Capitol" cigarette lighter. There's usually one or two of them on eBay at any given moment, and they're worth taking a look at. They actually work very well, but the person who designed them clearly had an acutely active imagination!

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Steve Maddox
President, NAWCC Chapter #62
North Little Rock, Arkansas