Thank you to everyone who answered my inquiry. I sincerely appreciate it. Since I had such good responses, I thought I'd throw one more question out there, if you don't mind! Is it possible that they are a kind of home-made surveying tool (ground stakes or similar)? Does anyone have examples of the kind in their collection? I've only been able to find commercially-manufactured examples so far. Erin McGough -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jill Chancey Sent: Monday, October 03, 2005 4:13 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: identification of a household item An even better URL on the history of pick-up sticks: http://www.onelang.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Pick-up_Sticks ----- Original Message ----- From: Erin <mailto:[log in to unmask]> McGough To: [log in to unmask] Sent: Friday, September 30, 2005 3:21 PM Subject: identification of a household item Hello I am hoping someone can help identify the item I describe below. If necessary, I can send a picture. Thank you! It is a fairly simple, long, dark wood box, measuring 24 1/4" x 4 7/8" x 3 7/8. The box has a cover that slides off and on; the wooden cover is beveled on two sides and one end is notched to form a handle. Inside there are 40 wooden sticks of various lengths, 20 1/4" - 23" long and about 3/8" thick. Each stick is tapered at each end. There is an inscription on the box indicating a date of about 1760. The item was given a number that associates a household use but I am afraid that knowledge of the use has been lost over the years. Does it sound familiar to anyone? Erin McGough Registrar and Collections Manager Concord Museum 200 Lexington Rd. P.O. Box 146 Concord, MA 01742-0146 Tel: (978) 369-9763 Fax: (978) 369-9660 www.concordmuseum.org David Sibley's Birds June 24, 2005 - January 1, 2006 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).