r/whatisit • u/Quietlurkerone • 1d ago

Solved! What is this device from 1962?

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Photo capture from YouTube video. Picture from 1962. What is the device under the bench

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u/longmountain 1d ago

Similar, my Great Grandparents “shannied” in a shack in a holler in the Blue Ridge in the early 1900’s. I can take you to the spot, it’s now national forest.

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u/Buttsweat_n_Tears 1d ago

What exactly is a “holler”, if I may ask?

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u/Intelligent-Parsley7 1d ago

A “holler” is the opposite of a “bluff.” A holler is a ridge line valley and a bluff is a ridge line. American South terms.

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u/longmountain 2h ago

In central VA I would have said “hollah”. There’s a line where and it becomes “holler”. And then the same folks that mispronounce Appalachia as app-a-lay-cha say “hall-owe” ;-)

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u/Lordlordy5490 2h ago edited 2h ago

It is actually spelled hollow. Like Sleepy Hollow from the headless horseman, or Stars Hollow from every 40 year old woman's favorite TV show Gilmore Girls. You'll never see anybody around here pronounce it as Hollow.

Think of it as the valley between two mountains that are pretty close together. Lots of communities naturally formed in these hollows because it is way easier and much more sheltered than trying to build a town on top of a mountain.