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This piece of crap…
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Was used to tighten the rope on a child’s trundle bed in the late 1700’s -early 1800’s.
I know this because my husband bought that bed….
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And the tightening tool came with it. We took both pieces up to the Maine State Museum a decade ago and were told they were handmade primitives from a French Acadian area in northern Maine. The bed was deemed special due to the wheels, something not often seen.
The whole set up would have looked something like this…
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Not my picture, but you get the idea.
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River's world..... 
So where did the tightening tool come in? Man, that looks complicated!
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I have no idea how it was used, but that’s what it is. Useless crap, my husband’s speciality.
🤣
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There are different designs. The one I saw had a loop of rope running through a hole in the side board, with a peg on either side and a rod going through the loop. You take the tool with the slot and twist the rod, tightening the rope. The pegs are slanted on top to allow the rod to slip over and catch on the back.
This bed was made by a medieval re-enactor I knew. He had the bitchinest camp you ever saw. Sleep on this: This guy did this for fun.
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Sleeping on a rope bed is not my idea of fun.
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I could sleep on a pile of partially crushed beer cans. Unless I’m having trouble getting to sleep, then forget it.
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I must have the perfect mattress, no peas allowed.
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Oh, PRINCESS!
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Glad I didn’t embarrass myself by guessing “medieval nipple clamp.”
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So am I. That would have been embarrassing…
🤣
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So how many millions did he get for it??????
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Sell it? Never. It’s still here…
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Spent the better part of my life tightening up the rope bed … only the adults got bed springs ….
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Something to look forward to then…
😉
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Wow….would have never guessed.
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Did anyone get the answer?
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Rusty and Kenny, with Raw God really close.
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Of course! At my age, how could I have forgotten!
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I can see the niche for the tightener on the frame, and I guess the rope was one piece, such that when the tool was turned it increased the rope’s tension. But I can’t imagine how the tool was connected to the rope.
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I have no idea…
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