Thursday, July 20, 2017

strap key


(n.) an elastic brass strip mounted on a wooden block carries a button for a finger; a platinum point on its upper surface is in contact with a platinum plate on a brass stop fixed above it; and the whole key is encased in a rubber bag packed in felt. 
- Century Dictionary & Encyclopedia, 1911 ed.

2 comments:

Spider Jim King said...

But WHY???
What the hell is the thing used for, pardon the dangling preposition if you can. And elastic brass?

Never heard of it.

Jay King said...

Hey, I just record what I read. The Century Cyclo is often surreally cryptic, thus poetic. Especially in regards outmoded technology. Surely there's a use for a strap key, but what that use is is anyone's guess.