Any Idea of the Purpose of These?

[Naturally]

Cigarettes.....

@hawkdon that was one thought I had too. My dad made a carton rack dispenser for his smokes
But there are 27 slots and each slot looks like it would easily hold a carton
Who stores 27 cartons of smokes ?!?!?! ... unless maybe smoking is a (large) family tradition

 

[VisualBrian]

If I assume that they were not built for the pantry but perhaps used somewhere else (convenience store?) and moved to the pantry at some later time, then cigarettes seem to be the most likely answer. As for why they would be put in the pantry is anyone's guess.

 

[Murrmurr]

Actually that doesn’t sound like a bad guess. Maybe it was used as a darkroom.

I've never seen anything like that in a darkroom (I worked in one). Rolls of film are usually kept in a dry chiller.

Maybe the previous owner had a hobby that needed that sort of thing, so they custom-built it.

 

[Sunny]

Spice rack?

 

[Jules]

This looks like an old house. I’ve been trying to think what my grandmother might have used these for.

 

[Jules]

It looks similar to a canned food dispenser?

View attachment 352638

That would be logical. Just my guess, the ones in the house don’t look deep enough to hold cans and there’s nothing to stop them from rolling out.

 

[GoneFishin]

Those are for holding hockey pucks. As the kids go out the door to the back yard rink/pond they grab a few on the way out

 

[Pinky]

Whatever their use, it's for holding an awful lot of 'something'!

 

[MarkinPhx]

I do hope that whoever designed this is having a big laugh right now.

 

[RadishRose]

@hawkdon that was one thought I had too. My dad made a carton rack dispenser for his smokes
But there are 27 slots and each slot looks like it would easily hold a carton
Who stores 27 cartons of smokes ?!?!?! ... unless maybe smoking is a (large) family tradition

I think the owner came into possession of these things in some way and hung them in his home, thinking to use them for something or other. Could be cigs or spices. I don't think he ever intended to fill them.

 

[MarkinPhx]

I think the owner came into possession of these things in some way and hung them in his home, thinking to use them for something or other. Could be cigs or spices. I don't think he ever intended to fill them.

When I was looking up the photo I did notice one Redditt post that mentioned that the house was built in 2006 but I didn't see any other post referring to the age of the house . I think it's even more stranger if it was built in 2006.

 

[Jules]

More info.

On Reddit : each slot is around 1" deep, 2" wide, with a 2" slot in the bottom.

 

[Jules]

When I was looking up the photo I did notice one Redditt post that mentioned that the house was built in 2006 but I didn't see any other post referring to the age of the house . I think it's even more stranger if it was built in 2006.

Someone else said 1960.

 

[MarkinPhx]

Someone else said 1960.

Ah, the plot thickens

 

[Jules]

I thought about shotgun shells. I don’t have any to reference. That would be quite the arsenal.

 

[MarkinPhx]

I thought about shotgun shells. I don’t have any to reference. That would be quite the arsenal.

Now that I see a closeup of the picture I like your idea of plastic shopping bags. It is close to the pantry and all one would have to do is shove the bags down the "chute". I think there would be enough space.

 

[Timewise 60+]

Men's socks (one pair, folded before you put in the top) could be folded up and dropped in the containers. Each row for a different color and/or style of socks.

They must have had a lot of socks.... but you could pull the pair you wanted out of the bottom and load the clean ones in the top.

 

[Pinky]

I go with Hawdon and Naturally .. cigarette package storage. Perhaps the shelves were once in a store.

 

[Paco Dennis]

M&M packages.

 

[Mizmo]

I showed to friends here and the husband thinks it is a T Wall. They are to reinforce a weak wall.

..and forgot this...the door would probably smack right into the wall when opened

 

[MarkinPhx]

M&M packages.

I'm willing to accept that only if they are for peanut M&M's

 

[QueenBKF]

It looks similar to a canned food dispenser?

View attachment 352638

Its not wide enough cuz thats what i thought too but the original OP said they are only an inch wide front to back.

 

[jujube]

The only thing I can think of is that they were somewhere else first, maybe mounted flat on their backs or sideways, to store long flat skinny slats of something.

Then a person found them at a garage sale and said, "Hey, I can use them in the pantry!", brought them home, installed them and then never found anything that would fit in them.

It sounds like something I would do......

 

[Jules]

The only thing I can think of is that they were somewhere else first, maybe mounted flat on their backs or sideways, to store long flat skinny slats of something.

Then a person found them at a garage sale and said, "Hey, I can use them in the pantry!", brought them home, installed them and then never found anything that would fit in them.

It sounds like something I would do......

That’s a very reasonable theory. This is a first and there’re hundreds of ideas. There’s a new FB site dedicated to this mystery.

 

[Olivia]

There are open shelves on the left. It could be there are more shelves on the right which for what ever reason are closed off by the white doors which by design are supposed to make that area more decorative.