I had just moved into an old house and came across this strange wooden thing. At first, I thought it was some sort of ugly dumbbell, but it was light and completely impractical. 

When I learned what it actually was, I was stunned. I had no idea people could invent something like that… 

I reveal what it is in the first comment 

When I moved into the old house I was temporarily renting, I expected to find dust, spiders, and maybe a couple of weird paintings. But definitely not this.

In the corner of the storage room, among creaky boxes and forgotten jars of nails, I found… a strange wooden item. At first, it looked like a weird dumbbell to me: bulky, with a handle in the middle — but it was light and completely awkward.

I turned it around in my hands, tried to imagine how anyone could use it for exercise, but nothing made sense.

Curiosity got the better of me. I took a photo of the object and posted it online asking: “What on earth is this?”

The answer came back quickly — and it surprised me: it turned out to be a… hat stretcher!

Yes, apparently people used to use these devices to stretch or preserve the shape of hats, especially if they were made of expensive materials and needed to look perfect.

To be honest, I still have trouble imagining exactly how it was used. But clearly, someone once cared a lot about their hat.

Now it sits on my shelf as a reminder of how the strange past sometimes creeps out of dusty corners to surprise us a little.