E arly 20th-century farms and households had many unusual appliances with identities and purposes that have been lost to time. Look at this device with toothed wheels and a hand crank that sold for $266 at Conestoga Auction Company in Pennsylvania. Is it a kitchen gadget -- perhaps a fruit or vegetable peeler? Some kind of grinder or chopper? In fact, it’s a mechanical rope twister.
In the early 19…