Does anyone know what this is?

[Aamartin]

Any clue?

[twinsrwe]

I don't know for sure, but it appears to be a frame for displaying several hanging plants from.

[Franz]

Did you find it in a flea market?

[Aamartin]

no-- it was buried in the basement

[Franz]

I thought it might be used in a hat store for displaying the articles. But it's difficult to explain the lower part: too low for the clients.

[Curryong]

I agree with twinsrwe. I think it's a stand for small hanging baskets of flowers. They'd have to be light though as ihe stand doesn't look as if it would be particularly stable. That's probably why it has landed in the basement.

[Aamartin]

it's cast iron. sturdy as all get out

[debbiediablo]

I'm thinking more like Franz, that something fits over rather than hangs from it. Not hats. Not shoes. Not puppets or dolls. Not greeting cards. Not books. It's styled like a flower rack so I wonder if canisters holding cut flowers fit straddle the upside down U. I even Googled display rack/images and flower rack/images. Nothing looks like it! Do you think it's hand made by someone with welding expertise. The bottom sections are so low to not seem functional for anything other than showing off something pretty. The tiny loops at the end are too small to fit a hanging planter. THIS is going to drive me nuts.

[augusta]

I'm gonna vote for a plant stand. A- do you know what it is?

[Aamartin]

I'm thinking more like Franz, that something fits over rather than hangs from it. Not hats. Not shoes. Not puppets or dolls. Not greeting cards. Not books. It's styled like a flower rack so I wonder if canisters holding cut flowers fit straddle the upside down U. I even Googled display rack/images and flower rack/images. Nothing looks like it! Do you think it's hand made by someone with welding expertise. The bottom sections are so low to not seem functional for anything other than showing off something pretty. The tiny loops at the end are too small to fit a hanging planter. THIS is going to drive me nuts.

I found out-- from my great aunt. It was made to hold cowboy hats and boots. Hats at the top, boots on the brackets-- and holsters too! How it came to be in my family is a mystery even to her. We have never been westerners!

[augusta]

How interesting! I wouldn't have guessed that, because I didn't know there was such a thing.

[twinsrwe]

I would not have guessed that this was a made to hold cowboy hats and boots, either. Thanks for sharing this with us Anthony, I have learned something that I never knew before!

[Franz]

Oh thanks Anthony. I made a half point!

[irina]

I can see it as a boot dryer/hat hanger thing. It's unusual. I have never seen anything like it out west. I would suggest boots would be hung upside down sorty of with the arms holding the boots open to dry. Maybe googling "boot dryer" would show this item.

I was going to make a definitive statement which would have been wrong but I have seen things like this that held potted plants. When I was a kid African violets were a rage. I remember seeing things like this in homes holding a pyramid of the violets which took special care, limited light, etc. Some had loops where pots fit in, some had hooks like this item appears to have. Guess it could be a multi-purpose thing?