r/whatisit • u/Hangry-24-7 • 1d ago

New, what is it? Uncle holding something

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Picture of my wife’s uncle as a boy 7 or 8 yrs old. Grew up on a farm in western NY. This picture dates back to around 1947 or 1948. What is the boy holding? Is it a toy? Or some sort of farm tool?

Update — yes this photo was enhanced using ai to take the graininess out of the original picture. My wife is giving a copy of the image to her cousin for an 80th birthday gift along with other photos.

The AI bashing on this post is unbelievable! How come nobody is bashing the fact that I used a scanner to create a jpeg of the image as opposed to creating a duplicate from a photo negative in a dark room and sending out 250 copies thru the postal service?

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u/Slumerican717 1d ago

Google swears it's the outter shell from an antitank rocket launcher... i think it looks more like a telescope or some kind of big ass. Kaleidoscope, personally

9

u/Acceptingoptimist 1d ago

I agree. Looks like telescope, kaleidoscope or homemade rocket part. I gotta think it's a toy the kid is proud to have and wanted to hold in the picture.

1

u/ou81aswell71 1d ago

Kaleidoscope.

6

u/TheOriginalArchibald 1d ago

Could have been empty army surplus the kid played with given the year. Dad likely served or was war adjacent. Tons of surplus for pennies everywhere.

2

u/GromBlessAMERICA 1d ago

👦🏼-Hey Pa, Look what I found in the attic...!

🧔🏼‍♂️~"Well I'll be a monkeys uncle" That's my trusty ole BAZOOKA from the great war!! Welp skippy, let's skidaddle out back and shoot a few sodi pop cans! (Just "LOB" a few shot's for old time's sake...) 🏌🏼‍♂️🚀🎇

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u/rek_t 1d ago

Telescope was my first thought. But it could be a few things.

1

u/RogertheShrubber-579 8h ago

I'm telling you, WWII salvage ordinance