Got this at auction recently. I knew what it was but have never used one. Anybody used one ?

No, never used one, never even seen one.   If not for the leather band, would think its a pot scrubber, the kind used on cast iron cookware.  With the leather band,  which resembles a husking tool, I really don't have a clue. 

Ice chains for your shoes?

Wild guess, looks kinda familiar tho....

 patent is 1123630 1-5-1915

Chain mail armour for the thumb?

Not a clue. Never seen one before.

Looks like something those kinky folks would use during play time.

Here's a link to the patent.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=kCdMAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=1123630&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2#v=onepage&q=1123630&f=false

Mike

Had to read a bit as I had never heard the term stall in this context before.   So basically its a husking glove for peeling the cornhusk off the ear of corn, something I should know here in the cornhusker state eh?   Just wondering how you ever connected to the patent info?   

 Got the patent info from Jim Moffet's book "Hand Held Corn Sheller & ..." Jim said people think this is a corn sheller but it is really a husking tool. Jim's got a very nice book available. I PUT OFF BUYING A COPY FOR A WHILE THINKING i DIDN'T NEED TO COLLECT ANYTHING ELSE. So far it hasn't caused me to buy any corn shellers and it did warn me off a fake that I saw sell at auction. Some people have produced some bogus shellers. Just like everything else,if dollars are involved someone will try to cheat.

Quote from: john k on October 13, 2012, 08:44:02 AM
   So basically its a husking glove for peeling the cornhusk off the ear of corn, something I should know here in the cornhusker state eh?   

Thats funny as hell.

strik9 was close; "Chain mail armour for the thumb?" good guess

Quote from: john k on October 13, 2012, 08:44:02 AM
Had to read a bit as I had never heard the term stall in this context before. 

Never heard thumb stall used for thumb armor, but in muzzle loading artillery one of the major safety devises is a thumb stall.  Made of leather, with a little added patch at the pad of the thumb, the man at the breech of the cannon thumbs the vent to prevent oxygen from being drawn into the chamber while men at the muzzle are swabbing the bore and loading the cannon.

It is a *very* obscure use of the word stall. Even in the patent files, which are loaded with obscure and obsolete words and phrases that I usually have to go look up, it only occurs a few times..

Here is one of the stranger ones...

I think that is a National Geographic Mouse Pad with a Polar Bear on it. And some sort of chain mail Wireless Mouse that straps to your arm?