Load of Rubbish started with a reasonably simple premise; to collect people’s junk and keep as much of it out of the landfill as possible via concerted recycling and donation efforts. We have been extremely successful on that front. Very few of the items we collect get earmarked as garbage, in part with the help and efforts of Green Valley Recycling and the many other recyclers and donation centers we have the privilege of dealing with.

One of the daily aspects of our business is collecting people’s stuff. It isn’t immediately sent to thrift stores or recyclers though. Load of Rubbish sorts through all of the items we collect, so that we can best decide where they belong. That means we handle a lot of objects over the course of a day. Some of them are mundane, like tires, fridges, and batteries, but other pieces are quite unique and catch our eye. More specifically, Kelvin’s eye.

Early on, Kelvin Rouse was fascinated with the wide variety of old and interesting things that crossed through the Load of Rubbish trucks. There were memorabilia items, antiques, weird tchotchkes, and other random objects that gave him pause. It seemed only fitting to give some of the most unusual of those things a spotlight when Load of Rubbish became more active on Facebook. Of course, not everything collected is recognizable. Enter What is it Wednesday.

What is it Wednesday

What is it Wednesday was the solution to figuring out exactly what some of the more bizarre objects actually were. Photos are taken and posted to the Load of Rubbish Facebook page on Wednesday, with a plea to identify what the object is and what it might be used for. And the Load of Rubbish followers love it! It is by far the most popular post of any given week and engagement rates are usually through the roof. Who knew that people love bickering over what an object might be and whether they had one as a kid!

What is it Wednesday? Fergus S. knew; “It is called a cape code lighter. You fill it with lamp oil. The stone will absorb it then you light it to start a fire. It will burn for quite a while.

Kelvin is right in there too and loving every minute of it. Some objects he knows, but wants to test people on. Other things are a downright mystery that we hope you might have some insight on. Often, someone does.

Last week a little metal pot had us stumped. Fergus S. sorted us out right quickly though! Kathy V. quickly chimed in that he was right and she had one too. Who knew?! Certainly not Kelvin.

What is it Wednesday? People were torn between a butter churn (minus the barrel), sewing machine base, or lathe. Do you know?

Other objects have divided our keen followers though. The metal frame with foot pedal garnered lots of guesses. Which one of them is correct though? Do you know?

And yet other objects have left people stumped. Nobody ventured a guess on these interesting bricks. We’re sure they came from somewhere specific and perhaps made for a certain reason, but we are still scratching our heads over these ones. Can you help identify them?

What is it Wednesday?: They are bricks, but the question is, what was the purpose behind the markings?

Have you chimed in on What is it Wednesday? Come back every week to see what interesting objects the Load of Rubbish crew has recently stumbled across. Let us know if you have one, had one, or at the very least know what our mystery item is. It certainly entertains Kelvin and we hope it interests you too!