Knock On Wood...

Well, not really. It would not be a wise thing to do until you are sure this is not set. And for a rat, it would never be advisable. My last two posts have had subjects of stone, then metal. I decided to look for something made of wood, and here it is. I acquired this last year, when disassembling an 1870's farmhouse. Before we started with the tear-down, I poked through every nook and cranny, and even got down on my hands and knees to search up under the eaves in the attic, which is where this was discovered. It was not set, just shoved up under the eaves, where the roof met the attic floorboards. Doesn't appear to have ever dispatched a rat. That's not surprising, as we found no evidence of rodents taking up residence even though the house had not been lived in since the early 1970's. It has a kind of macabre attractiveness, does it not?



The manufacturer, Lovell Manufacturing Co. is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's period of significance runs from 1850-1924. The site consists of 40 acres and 9 buildings. They manufactured a wide variety of household items over the years. I'm a bit perverse, so I proudly display this instrument of death standing upright, on top of my punched tin piesafe in the kitchen. You can go to the Patent Office page and search by patent number 1,726,195 and view the patent drawings, specifications, and more info than you ever wanted to know about this particular trap. The date on this version of the trap is August 27, 1929. Here is the link to the image file. If you can't view the images, click "help" and install alternatiff viewer. The internet is a marvelous thing.