Found attached to the floor in my Crawlspace. House was built in 1903.
My title describes the thing – found while doing work in the Crawlspace. Not sure of exactly above it, but mapping that out is next step over the weekend!
HERE ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE’S OPINION!
Someone said:
That is a Savings Bank tube. They were an advertising promo giveaway item popular in the sixties. I collected them as a kid and used them to store coins and marbles in. Having lived in, and rehabbed, a number of early 1900s through 1950s homes I can say with a high degree of confidence that this is one of two things. It is either, as others have mentioned, a handy junk drawer item that was a perfect fit for a dislodged knots hole. Especially, if this home is located in an area that gets cold, winter’s where you can feel the chilly winds come up through any cracks or holes in the walls or floors. Second possibility is a hidey hole or other small storage slot. It was very common to attached coffee tins, baby food or Mason jars, and other similar items directly to the sub floor or joists of the floor above for small item keeping. The unfinished basement of my 1927 house had about fifty of them, some empty and some with 80 year old nails and screws and household fittings. Again, as others have mentioned, Home Decorators does seem to be the likely origin. Sales rep comes out to talk details with (usually) the “Lady of the House” and gifts the kids these (other) promos items to keep them busy and foster a sense of good will.
Someone said:
It looks like an air quality testing tube. They have these in the UK to test air quality they are usually on lamppost’s by roads. It just a theory though.
Someone said:
Where is the water heater?
Someone said:
Is it a drain for something? Condensation?
Someone said:
My guess is someone put a conduit through the floor to easily rule cables through the crawl space. I have done this when installing WiFi access points around the house.
Someone said:
At a glance it looks like a tube that rolls of coins would be stored in.
Someone said:
It’s possible that this is a drain for a leaky radiator. Years ago I had to rig up this exact thing so my wood floor would not be ruined before the plumbers could come over.
Someone said:
Hey I grew up in Newark! No idea what this thing is but it’s cool none the less to see something from the old home town.
Someone said:
Looks to me like hanging fly paper strips. I’m not 100 percent without matching up the picture but that’s my best guess. They come in a tube about that size and the sticky paper dangles down as a fly trap. Normally you hang the paper from the ceiling but it could have been just shoved in with the tube at top and paper hanging below.
Someone said:
The company is “Home Decorators. Inc., Newark, New York”
Not sure what the tube is.
Someone said:
Water drain in case the radiator bursts
Someone said:
If there was a cap on the bottom maybe it’d make a good hidey hole for cash? I can imagine someone putting “for your betterment” on a little hidden tube full of cash? The presumed association with a business has me beat though. As others said it’s probably just be a convenient piece of tube used for conduit – definitely looks like it’s glued in and through the boards.
Someone said:
Clear plastic wasn’t a thing in 1903 so it must be a more recent addition.
Someone said:
“For your betterment” makes me think that it was some sort of medicine that being said I am currently in Newark ny for work so maybe I’ll see if I can find anything here
Someone said:
It’s a cigar tube. Someone used it as a grommet to pass something like a cable through the floor.
Someone said:
That, or might have been used to run cable through. I’ve seen stuff like that a fair bit.
Someone said:
I think someone many years back plugged a hole in the floor with a random round container that happened to fit real snug.