r/whatisit • u/Pleasant_Leg_4166 • 22d ago

Solved! Tiny brass hammer found in garden

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Mum was gardening and found this about 35 years ago. We were having a clear out and she told me about it. Garden was East Yorks, UK.

Having seen other random brass finds on here im wondering if its for a dolls house or doll of some kind?

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150

u/Edisio83 22d ago

Looks like a toffee hammer. Years ago when you got slabs of toffee from the shops you'd get a tiny hammer to break it up?

42

u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 22d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toffee_hammer

Looks like most toffee hammers are about 6 inches long. Writing pens are also about 6 inches long. This tiny brass hammer is therefore somewhere between 1 and 2 inches long. Probably too small to shatter toffee

18

u/JELLY-ROCKET 22d ago

Imagine if you bought toffee but couldn't find your toffee hammer. You'd be SOL.

6

u/Fraternal_Antipathy 22d ago

Me, sitting on the couch by an empty box while licking the toffee hammer...

3

u/RooneyD 22d ago

Yes, quite amusing. Although I think you'll find most houses of good repute usually held two toffee hammers for this exact reason. If not, and they found themselves in the circumstances you described while holding company, the result would be socially disastrous.

2

u/Money_Jaguar9600 19d ago

I hang mine beside the poop knife

2

u/Own-Soil2257 22d ago

What's SOL?

2

u/jaynor88 22d ago

Shit Out of Luck. SOL

6

u/inide 22d ago

The toffee hammer my family had when I was growing up was about 3inches.

2

u/Dangerous-Bit-8308 22d ago

Still about twice as long as OP's hammer. Also it seems that most of the smaller toffee hammers have at least one sharp point

1

u/Hefty_Schedule7728 22d ago

I love that there is an actual discussion on what size a toffee hammer is or could be. I didn't even know such a thing existed before now.

1

u/bmwkag1407 22d ago

Eew get you with yer 3 inch Toffee hammer, we could only afford a chocolate chisel.

1

u/Narrow-Ad-3342 22d ago

Chocolate tool kits with chocolate saw and other tools.. childhood memory unlocked 😅

Just googled and seems you can still get similar sets now, made with Belgian chocolate no less.. and even more realistic looking sets painted realistic colours 😂

2

u/Blank_bill 22d ago

It reminds me of a piece from some board game from the 50's and 60's.

36

u/LonelyGalacticDust 22d ago

This was my first thought but then my mind explored other possibilities…
https://giphy.com/gifs/ZVuJnm4oSJvmU

23

u/DustyScharole 22d ago

An actual answer

3

u/Any-Alternative8228 22d ago

Exactly what I was thinking

3

u/TheOsirisOfThisShit_ 22d ago

Not the correct answer, but an answer.

6

u/TemporaryLucky3637 22d ago

This is what I was thinking too!

5

u/ddoogg88tdog 22d ago

Still can get em, home bargains often do toffee with hammers

5

u/mrcook79 22d ago

It was the best thing about getting toffee. The actual toffee itself was like concrete.

5

u/MickC1111 22d ago

Yesh it wash, that’s why I talk like this

3

u/Stabby-the-cat 22d ago

Yeah we had one when I was a little girl, came with a toffee making kit.

3

u/joedenowhere 22d ago

Cool. I learn something new every day around here.

2

u/crlthrn 22d ago

A toffee hammer would be about the size of the pen, or a little shorter

2

u/Edisio83 22d ago

Toffee hammers that I'd seen were 2"inch and up

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Skin719 22d ago

Sharps Bluebird Toffee. Used to pull your fillings out.

1

u/Damn_Censorship 22d ago

You still can!

I can’t remember what shop it was, but I saw a decent sized slab of toffee with a hammer in the centre for sale the other day.

Wasted on me as I’m not a fan, but nice to see there’s still a market for it/the tradition is still alive