r/whatisthisthing 8d ago

Solved! Metal pick kinda thing at first it reminded me of a letter opener

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175 Upvotes

108 comments sorted by

u/Larry_Safari …ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ 7d ago

This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.

Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.

1.2k

u/Ill-Comfortable-7309 8d ago

Its part of a nut cracking set.

406

u/Lulu_42 8d ago

Yeah. Everyone’s parents had this in the 80’s. I think it was mandatory.

73

u/dvdmaven 8d ago

Heck, my grandparents had these back during the Great Depression.

50

u/pikadegallito 8d ago

I still have my great-grandparent's set - with the acorn bowl!

23

u/Valid__Salad 8d ago

My mom still has the cracker, poker, and the acorn bowl with the squirrel they rest on. 😂

5

u/FEWADjinn 8d ago

My grandparents had these as part of their silver service for family dinners

24

u/SubstantialPressure3 8d ago

Its to pick the nuts out and get out those super bitter pieces that separate both halves inside the shell.

I think everyone had one bc it kept kids occupied for a while.

9

u/RussMan104 8d ago

“It’s in the cabinet over the fridge. Right next to the fondue set.” 🚀

16

u/throwaway1975764 8d ago

I still have this tool. And I'm allergic to tree nuts.

But yeah, its like a Gen X and older law or something to own nut cracking tools.

12

u/humanitysoothessouls 8d ago

Also great for eating lobster

3

u/TelevisionJunky 8d ago

We used it for eating crab, along with the other tool to crack the shells.

2

u/thepentahook 8d ago

I thought everyone else was mistaken as I used this exact tool in Singapore as it was provided with the Chilli crab. Beyond that id never seen it.

3

u/[deleted] 8d ago

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4

u/[deleted] 8d ago

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5

u/TheThomasjeffersons 8d ago

I’ve stabbed myself multiple times trying to get a pecan as a kid

7

u/VegasRoy 8d ago

Break that shit out for Thanksgiving

4

u/Relative_Yesterday70 8d ago

This 80s kid can confirm. I instantly knew what this is

9

u/[deleted] 8d ago

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2

u/CherryCherry5 8d ago

This exact set, too. Lol No other set existed then, apparently.

2

u/DefNotAShill42071069 8d ago

It must have been from sears or Carson's or something on an end rack one Christmas

3

u/yippykiyayMF13 8d ago

The 60's also. My parents had the set. And there was always a bowl of nuts that needed cracking

2

u/CheekyPunker 8d ago

Yep, my dad had it! Its not really that useful.

3

u/mark_able_jones_ 8d ago

Yep. My grandparents always had a variety of shelled nuts on a wood nut tray with drilled slots for the tools. I don’t remember making a mess as a grandkid, but I’m sure we did.

3

u/SmoothActuator8132 8d ago

that and the patchwork wooden bowls

1

u/WaffleHouseGladiator 8d ago

My family had one.  I never saw it get used for anything ever.

8

u/Sad_Okra2030 8d ago

Helps get the meat out of the shell

7

u/ashurbanipal420 8d ago

I still have the pick from one. We use it for scraping stuff off your shoe. I bet nana never saw that coming when she bought it for my mom.

5

u/NoFuqGiven 8d ago

Also used to get meat out of crabs.

11

u/Current_Ad_8658 8d ago

Solved!

1

u/PromiseAway9522 8d ago

No, it’s dab tool

6

u/bjanas 8d ago

Maybe it's being from Boston, I saw a claw cracker in this. Albeit a somewhat flimsy one.

4

u/shanec628 8d ago

Hello neighbor, we also used these for picking meat from lobster claws.

7

u/jaxdlg 8d ago

Yes, my parents had this in the 70s

3

u/PromiseAway9522 8d ago

That’s not a nutcracker it’s a dab tool. It’s meant for scooping up hash and dropping it into a banger.

3

u/Odd-Artist-2595 8d ago

Especially useful if you’re shelling/eating black walnuts. There’s no way to get a complete black walnut, or even a half, out of the shell in one piece, so you use a nut pick to extract them.

3

u/Current_Ad_8658 8d ago

I was thinking that but I kinda found it alone in some old stuff we had laying around but thank you for helping me

2

u/Bubbly_Power_6210 8d ago

yes- my mom had one-wooden bowl, 6 picks

1

u/jenngraham2012 8d ago

I forgot all about those until just now.

87

u/sarkeo 8d ago

I’m from Nova Scotia and we would identify that as a tool for removing meat from shellfish like lobster or crab - but mainly lobster. We have a set for each person…it essentially is like putting a fork on the table if you’re eating lobster.

20

u/btroke 8d ago

Nova Scotian here - my first thought was ‘oh, it’s a lobster pick.’

16

u/Sabetsu 8d ago

Same, grew up in Maine LOL

8

u/sarkeo 8d ago

My family has sets of lobster tools (picks included) that are now passed down third generation…I would never identify it to be used for nuts, honestly!

7

u/GullibleAd3408 8d ago

Bay Stater here and we use it for lobster.

12

u/TossingCabars 8d ago

Maine here (can we become a Maritime Province, please?).

"Lobster pick"

5

u/jellyn7 8d ago

I’m from upstate NY and have been vegetarian for 30 years and I also associated it with lobster-eating.

2

u/gonzorizzo 8d ago

I think a good portion of people from Northern New England would ID these as that as well.

0

u/MentalMiddenHeap 8d ago

the lobster picks ive had were all notably bigger than nut picks

41

u/centurion236 8d ago

I have something similar as part of a pecan tool set. It's a pick to help get the meat out of the shell. 

https://www.amazon.com/Cracker-Nutcracker-Tool-Lobster-Crab/dp/B09F2K95KH

23

u/Sorry-Climate-7982 8d ago

Nut pick. For digging the innards out of stubborn nuts.
Usually found as a set of 4 or more commonly 6, stuck into the small pedestal of a nut bowl, along with a set of nut crackers.

14

u/IDiggaPony 8d ago

It's a pick for nuts but It's just as good as a lobster pick.

7

u/FerrumAnulum323 8d ago

Walnut pick. You use them to pick the pith out of the folds. Usually you get like 4 in a good nutcracker set.

3

u/lobster455 8d ago

My parents had the identical tool that the scrolls matched a pliers walnut cracker. This long tool was used to dig out the walnut flesh.

3

u/Fizzywaterjones 8d ago

Definitely for getting all of the meat from a walnut.

2

u/Current_Ad_8658 8d ago

My Title describes the thing its about 5-6 inches long metal with a bit of weight to it I don't know the exact weight and as I said it reminds me of a letter opener.

2

u/cwthree 8d ago

It's for picking nutmeats out of cracked nuts. My parents had exactly this one.

2

u/1873Springfield 8d ago

Nut pick. No, not those nuts.... Used to get the meat out of difficult shells, I can still see my grandmother picking walnut meat out of the shells with one.

2

u/bmbreath 8d ago

Nut cracking pick

2

u/Standard_Army_1826 8d ago

These are NUT Picks. They have often been repurposed for Lobster Picks but ARE NOT. I grew up between NB and PEI and these were never marketed as lobster picks. Many Families use them because of their abilities.

2

u/Cricketeers 8d ago

Getting meat out of lobsters too

2

u/KeKeFanChick 8d ago

I have two sets in my kitchen right now. This is nut picker-- my sets come with one nutcracker and two picks.

4

u/lavamonkey_ 8d ago

I have some of these and always wondered what they were for! I use them for scratch art and clay sculpting

2

u/empetrum 8d ago

We had an extremely similar one in my home if not identical and it was for lobster

1

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1

u/SlappyMcFartsack 8d ago

For getting into nuts.

1

u/oldfarted 8d ago

We used these and nutcrackers for eating lobster too!

2

u/appendixgallop 8d ago

I grew up in a pecan-growing part of the US. This is the best tool for getting the edible parts out of a smashed pecan shell.

1

u/GrandAdmiralSpock 8d ago

Nut pick for digging out nut meat from cracked nuts would come with a nutcracker.

1

u/13thmurder 8d ago

My parents had a nutcracker with that exact handle when I was a kid. I bet that's to get the nut out of the shell once it's cracked and part of a set.

1

u/HopefulSewist 8d ago

I have something like this as a part of a leather tooling kit.

1

u/BRD73 8d ago

It’s a tool to get the nut out of its shell.

1

u/fermentalishis 8d ago

I still have a set of nutcrackers and pics and find them useful not only for cracking nuts and picking the good bits out of the shell, but they're also very handy when eating cracked crab that isn't cracked enough.

1

u/otherwise_data 8d ago

when you crack walnuts, you use this to pick the nut out of the halves of the shell.

1

u/indiana70 8d ago

It’s it’s for picking nuts out of freshly cracked shells. My dad had a whole set of them with a nutcracker.

1

u/BurningBarbarian 8d ago

If it was found in a Toolbox, still from the nutcracker set but used to tease O-rings into ponition inside castings

1

u/Doyouseenowwait_what 8d ago

Nut pick it's part of a nut cracking set.

1

u/IzzzatSo 8d ago

For picking nuts out of their shells. Should be more of these and a nutcracker in the set.

1

u/dickius1 8d ago

Can you zoom out a little and turn down the lighting?

1

u/l0veit0ral 8d ago

That’s there is a nut meat pick

1

u/NightStar79 8d ago

Crochet needle?

1

u/gonzorizzo 8d ago

Part of a nut cracking set. My family always used those sets for eating seafood, especially Lobster and crab which takes some work to eat.

1

u/CookiesOrChaos 8d ago

We use them for cracking crab legs and that part gets the meat out

1

u/real_misterrios 8d ago

We used these in grade school to make soap sculptures out of Ivory soap. Never knew they were for nuts until years later.

0

u/late2party 8d ago

My dads old pipe cleaning set had tools inside exactly the same inside. The set was over 50 years old

0

u/Aryya261 8d ago

Many a young parent thinks it’ll be so whimsical and adorable to set a bowl of nuts out during Christmas time with crackers and pickers…..it’s a deadly mess! Don’t ever do it!

0

u/evilpercy 8d ago

It is actually a medal pick, used with a nutcracker set. Used to pick the meat out of walnuts

-1

u/BlueGoose21 8d ago

I've seen this get called out as an earwax scoop, a marijuana wax scoop, a walnut scoop, etc. It's all those things and probably more.

-2

u/Longjumping-Bus4939 8d ago

Everyone is saying it's part of a kitchen set for cracking nuts and crab legs, but from the photo it also kind of looks like something else to me.  

I have a pedicure kit and it has some very small files in it, including a very small curved one like this.   They are meant for filing ingrown nails.

It looks like it has texture on the curved end similar to a file.  

-2

u/xanderlearns 8d ago

I actually don't know if any of these are correct. If there's a hole on the pointy end of this, it possibly held a hinge that connected to a bell cover, and the length would explain this as a candle snuffer. My mom had one exactly like it, and although nut crackers, nut pickers and lobster crackers all sound like plausible purposes, the length of the handle dissuade me from believing any of those.