Historical information

We have been unable to find a brand name or identify any identical items online or in other collections, indicating that this may be a custom-made tool designed specifically for use on a nursery - potentially C.A. Nobelius' nursery. It appears to be a foot-pedal operated hole punch, designed to reliably puncture metal pots for orchard trees. In the 1940s, the Nobelius nursery began to lift trees from the ground and sell them in pots rather than as bare-rooted plants; at this time, plastic was not yet widely available and many discarded biscuit or fruit tins were reused as pots. Potted trees required regular watering, and holes in the bottom of the pot for water to run out from; this hole punch may have facilitated an easier potting process until the popularisation of plastic pots in the 1960s.

Significance

This item was a tool used in nursery practices in the 1940s, potentially including on the Nobelius nursery. Similar items are rare or difficult to find.

Physical description

This item rests on a cross base, with holes in each of the cross arms to allow it to be secured. The lower third of the central shaft is hollow, allowing for a foot pedal to descend through it. The middle third of the shaft is also hollow, with a loose central section affixed to the foot pedal moving up and down within it. In the upper third of the shaft, the hollow outer layer ends, and the mobile inner shaft is wrapped in a spring and affixed to the crossbar at the top of the item. Four small fixed crossbars also emerge from the sides of the middle third, attached to vertical rods through a rotating joint; the vertical rods attach with another rotating joint to pieces emerging through through the upper crossbar surface and ending with sharp points. The base and central shaft was painted yellow, and the upper crossbar head is painted red, though both are heavily faded.

Together, these parts form a contraption that, when the foot pedal is pressed down, pulls the head downwards, in the process rotating the pointed pieces inwards to puncture the item placed on the head. When pressure is released, the spring returns the head to its initial position.

Inscriptions & markings

N/A