Donna-- You may have something there. Let's hope there were dowel holes in the floor or wall to accommodate the pole.....so folks didn't have to go outside to collect their toilet paper!
The gnawing idea way back in the back of my mind is whispering to me, "Its a hoax, fool". No, but seriously, perhaps it is a fancy dibber that makes two holes at once. The benefit of this implement; should it be a dibber, would be to keep the planting of seeds an equal distance apart. You could also make one hole at the time. Another thought would be: Imagine that one would have two of these. They could affix them to either end of a proposed row, span twine between the two objects and then make a straight furrow between them. The single dowel could keep the implement stable in the ground or frame. Naturally one could use it in the reverse, letting the dual dowels secure the placement with only one teine spanned from one end of the row to the other.
So, do you think they laid the Sears and Roebuck catalog on it or laid it over the pegs or what? anything to keep the tp aired out, huh?
The first thing I thought of after seeing the photo was a home made yarn "looper" or "gatherer". One person holds the handles, the second person loops the yarn around the pegs. It must have fallen off the truck on it's way to the antique mart.
I just took another look at that thing, and you know, (just between you & me) it is actually pretty ugly.
