{"id":5111,"date":"2026-08-19T18:59:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T18:59:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lateststories.info\/?p=3139"},"modified":"2026-08-19T21:26:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T21:26:28","slug":"what-is-this-object-with-marbles-hanging-in-my-basement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/?p=5111","title":{"rendered":"What is this object with marbles hanging in my basement?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Over time, people discovered another practical use for it: holding papers, photographs, receipts, or towels in place, as the weight of the glass marbles would securely grip whatever was placed between them.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.redd.it\/iw1wc68lmdy31.jpg\" alt=\"r\/whatisthisthing - I found this hanging from the basement rafters of my 100 year old house. It appears to be two marbles or something similar in a hanger of some sort. Any one have a clue what this could be?\" width=\"512\" height=\"683\" \/><br \/>\nThese clips were often attached to ceiling joists, rafters, or nails in basements, workshops, and darkrooms.<\/p>\n<p>It served two distinct purposes over the decades:<\/p>\n<p>This object is a vintage <b>glass marble clip<\/b>, manufactured primarily by companies like Kenberry starting in the 1930s.<\/p>\n<h3>1. Razor Blade Sharpener \/ Stropper (Original Intended Purpose)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>How it worked:<\/b> In the 1930s and 1940s, it was sold as a budget tool for safety razor blades or straight razors.<\/li>\n<li>Drawing a dull double-edged razor blade through the groove between the two glass marbles realigned and deburred the microscopic edge of the metal blade, extending its lifespan for a few more shaves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>2. Gravity Paper &amp; Towel Holder (Practical Repurposed Use)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><b>How it works:<\/b> Because the razor sharpener didn&#8217;t work exceptionally well over long periods, people quickly discovered the clip made an excellent <b>gravity-fed hanger<\/b>.<\/li>\n<li>When you slide a piece of paper, photo, order slip, or tea towel upward between the two marbles, the weight of the glass rolling down wedged and held the item firmly in place without tearing it.<\/li>\n<li>It was commonly hung from exposed ceiling joists, rafters, or nails in basements, workshops, and darkrooms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over time, people discovered another practical use for it: holding papers, photographs, receipts, or towels in place, as the weight of the glass marbles would securely grip&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mdrssa_facebook_image":"","_mdrssa_unique_id":"cee544ade23abe60ef1cfca909856b69","_mdrssa_normalized_url":":\/\/lateststories.info\/?p=3139"},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5125,"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111\/revisions\/5125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.justbytime.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}