It’s fun to look at pictures from the past and guess how old, antique gizmos were used by our ancestors. In a photo that was originally shared on a site called “Do You Remember,” one item had people stumped, according to A Trending.
The photo depicts a yellow device with a sharp, metal attachment in the form of a triangle; the tool looks small enough to be hand-held. Facebook users threw their best guess in the comment thread. Some people thought it was used in the home garden. Others thought it was some type of tool to open clams. However, those guesses couldn't be further from the truth.
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The tool was actually an oil spout. Back in the days when oil came in cans and not plastic bottles, oil spouts looked sort of like hand shovels with a triangular metal piece in the middle. Since oil can spouts were made to be reused, they seem to have been made with a certain durability. Consequently, many examples of vintage oil can spouts exist.
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The same can’t be said for vintage oil cans, however. According to Collector’s Weekly, the ones that still exist are collectible. When a gas station attendant added oil to a patron’s vehicle, he would get a can of oil, add it to the vehicle and then toss the oil can. For this reason, not many examples of oil cans survive today.