The winner will receive a gift from Da Yoopers Tourist Trap.

THE WINNER!

From: Brian.Marczak
Subject: the guess
Date: November 2, 2006 6:32:00 PM EDT

..Yep, just so happens, I know the whole story behind dis here tool.
Over dere in da backwoods, a secret garden was in place, wit a real nice crop of hops. Dese weren’t just ordinary hops growin in dat garden either.
He had a special breed of hops dat was da perfect formula for da pride of the “sportsman’s paradise.” A few people were catching on ta da special crop of
Bosch hops, and kept trying ta steal some from da garden. You know how prized of a possession dis can be.
.. Well, while toiling away in da garden month after month, he had ta keep planting new plants ta replace da ones people were stealing. He had ta plant them just right, or they wouldn’t grow in da short UP summer. The perfect distance to start da crops in da ground was measured by his finger sticking in da dirt. Sometimes, right while he was workin’ in da garden, people would sneak up ta see how he got da hops ta grow. Course, he got mad and would pull his finger out of da ground, and give dem a sign for what he thought of dem trying ta steal his crops. Dat got people upset sometimes, so dey’d leave.

..After a while, his finger was so full of dirt, people couldn’t really see it anymore. He ended up having to try harder at scaring them away with the usual method, and between using da finger ta make holes ta plant in and telling everyone what he thought, his finger got perty sore. It even started cramping up after a while, so he figured he needed a tool ta help make sure da hops would still grow right.

..After a couple a nights in da shop, he modeled dis handy gadget after his own hand, and could use it in da garden. People still couldn’t tell how to get the hops planted right, and as an added bonus, he now had three fingers so show the nosey neighbors, and really let them know what he thought. It couldn’t have worked any better. Even when he was away, he could leave da tool by da fence so people coming by would still see da hand telling them what he thought. It is probably in fer a patent as da best multi-use tool ever made, handy for raking, planting, and communicating wit da neighbors.

From: pickie98
Subject: DON'S DOO HICKEY!
Date: March 20, 2007 7:19:22 PM EDT

I'm kinda surprised that ya actually show it on the net and all, but where I come from we use it as a snaggin' hook at the dam!  We also use the little spade and hoe that goes with the set, but that's just to confuse the DNR boys and girls!  We started using them when our daughter was little, 2 years old and we taught her how to throw all three tools in the water at the foot of the falls and let them drift, then if DNR shows up, she is just trying to get her "dropped" garden tools out of the water! 
We canned sixty eight quarts of salmon from one weekend, smoked another fifty pounds when the little tot fell in the water with her vest on and dragged the hefty buggers downstream to our worried, waiting arms!  Technically, we did do gardening with the tools,; used all the guts to fertilize our whole plot of vegetables. 
Our daughter is all grown up now, but still has her "gardening" tools!
Linda Castillo, Bay City,MI

From: dpope
Subject: Guess What dis Doo-Hickey was used for! Contest
Date: November 10, 2006 11:50:50 AM EST
This hand-rake is to tell all the rodents and other varmin what they can do instead of getting into his garden.
This hand-rake is to tell all the rodents and other varmin what they can do instead of getting into his garden.

From: FISHERL
Subject: Guess Da Doo Hickey
Date: November 18, 2006 7:45:32 AM EST
Hoolie,
..Sure looks like the flower garden cultivater my mom used to have. It did get bent that way too, from scratching up all those Arkansas rocks. Us Yoobillies all thought it must be to tell us what she thought of the opinions we had on just about anything. Specially on weeding gardens.

Yup, this is the same winner of the "First Guess the Gadget Contest". Visited the Trap a few years ago and loved it. Just wanted you to know how much I enjoy your stuff.

Craig Fisher
Shirley, Arkansas

From: rchshf4
Subject: Uses for Doo-Hickey
Date: December 2, 2006 1:48:40 PM EST
Probably for use as a nose-pick for big Bears.

Richard G. Shaffer, Sr., (dickeroo1932) We even get gifts from relatives in Yooperland here in Weston, Florida

From: yupperdoo
Subject: Gizmo
Date: December 7, 2006 4:29:04 PM EST
..Dat's only half da set,should be another one in mirror image.Hardline Yooper drinkers carried a pair of dese to da bar wit em in da winter for several reasons.

..While at da bar,they could be used ta dry and warm yer mittens by da stove.And during a"crawling home puker"on the icy path they served as calks to give yer mittened mitts traction.The extended center spike was to stap into the ground,giving you a solid anchor ta cling to when da world started spinning around or you needed a piton to belay a fellow Yooper along da path.In da summertime, Ma would stick em handle first in da ground by da garden ta hold da hose from gettin dragged through da cabbages.Old time Yoopers were Masters of innovation and created many such multipurpose tools.

From: cajdumas3
Subject: guess the doo hickey
Date: December 10, 2006 5:31:08 PM EST
..well now that i read more into the contest.. big dummy i am !!well it looks like one of the swizzle switches.. you used to see them by the conuter valves in the hardware store.. it was actually used to pick the boogers from a deer nose... you would put it up near a bait pile.. so when the deer came in to eat some corn, he could use that to get the boogers out..

..i heard of many a person gettin monster buck by using that thing.. gives ya time to get the buck fever gone so ya can get that perfect shot..thanks again,
chris dumas ( yes i know, DUMBASS )
flint, mi

From: ternst
Subject: Doo Hickie
Date: December 14, 2006 10:18:54 AM EST
I believe that Don was using it as a back scratcher.

See Don's wife use to do this for him but she got tired of it. The pissed Don off, so he made his own back scratcher and designed so that every time he scratches his back he can also show his wife how much he loves her............

That's my take on the Doo Hickie.

Thanks,
Tim Ernst
Dubuque, IA

From: idrivelikedalejr
Subject: Guess da Doo-hickey eh!
Date: December 22, 2006 11:22:28 PM EST
..Oh man, dis is an easy one! Dis here ting is well known to us Richmond Township folks! Dis is a personal favorite'a dem Palmeranians. Dey like to put dese in dere front yards to show da folks at da Empire Mine how dey feel about dat red ore dust mucking up all da houses in Palmer. It’s dere own personal one finger salute to dat mine dust.

..It also doubles as a marker, to show dem mine house washing folks which houses been washed and which haven’t. If da house is flying da bird, it needs washin. If not, pass on by. (Da mine pays to have da houses washed every 2 years eh!)
Katie Collick, Suomi Location, MI

From: dblj
Subject: guess da gizmo contest
Date: January 26, 2007 10:17:09 PM EST
...I didn' hafta tink very hard on dis one. Efry flower gardener where I grew up at in Soutakoda had some layin around. Hoolie's specimen dere usta be a teflon coated garden mulchin nose picken/scratchin thingy. Now its just a wore out one an its used fer showin of ta da udder garden mulchin nose scratchin/pickers in da neighborhood.

...Da more ya had settin on yer fence da better da neighbors tought ya were a garden mulcher. It was used fer mixin mulch, ya know da real stinky stuff from da cow yard ofer da fence. Da middle finger was at da factory bent up dat way an like I said da ting was covered with teflon so da real stinky stuff wouldn't stick ta it. Any body knows that when ya get yer hands in da real stinky stuff ya alway hafta scratch yer nose.

...Wid one a dese ya didn't hafta smell yer fingers whenever yer nose needed a good scratchin er picken. Ya could always tell when one was wore out cause da
teflon fell off an da nose picken scratchin tingy smelled yust like yer fingers. I nefer tried it but Ole Olson said ya could efen scratch yer udder end before yer nose as long as da teflon was still good.
...Da neighbor dere, Don wasn't try ta be rude, he was yust showin off. Da best garden mucher in Norway Center, Soutakoda had two - tree duzen on his fence. He musta been usin em like it was designed for an musta got in a little deep, cuz da nose picken scratchen fingers all had extra rusty tips.
...I hope I got dis dere before da udder garden mulchin, nose picken scratchers
Bruce Ludwig
Auxvasse, Missouri

From: nstoffle
Subject: guess da doo-hickey number 8
Date: February 2, 2007 12:23:58 PM EST
..See that there is a modified garden hand rake. Some call it the original garden weasel. It’s used to do your standard hand raking around the plants and then you can use that middle tine to dig out the weeds that is really close to the tomato plants and such.

..It’s also a great stress reliever because you’re flippin’ the bird to those little rascals as your ripping them outta the ground, plus when the mosquitoes get too bad you can use it to scratch your back. You gotta watch out for that middle one though if you’re gonna do that. It’s easy to get carried away and start swinging at those buggers as they’re starting to swarm. My cousin got a tine in the eye one time doing that. Didn’t poke it out our anything, but he was pretty cranky there for a while. He had to stop doing the gardening for a while too, what with that eye and all he was more of a danger to the veggie plants than the deer were.

..Too bad you can’t use one of those weed rakes on the deer though. I tell ya, those deer cause such a mess in the garden. One time my aunt planted some lettuce and tomatoes, and even found some jalepeno pepper plants out at the feed store, but she had those planted out there and sure enough the deer came around and ate half the leaves off them plants. Well, they left the peppers alone, but I suppose that’s a good thing because otherwise you’d probably get a good shock come hunting season. Spicy deer.

Nic from Peshtigo

From: tbend3
Subject: Back scratcher
Date: February 8, 2007 12:48:54 PM EST
...From da git go, Don wasent conveyin anyting wit dis ting atall. He's a avid gardener and loves to dig in da dirt. He roots around in his garden all day long and late into da night. He hates to quit to get a beer or eat a pastie or anyting else dat he needs ta do.

...One day his back needed scratchin but he wasn't neer a tree so he grabbed the neerest ting dat mite wurk. He found dat da ting wurked swell so he kept it by da fence so he could find it for when he itched. Some time later he was diggin spuds and he had a flareup of burny royds. He bent one of da prongs into a suitable shape and it worked swell. He also found a nudder use for dis ting when he ran out of Sears Robuck and had to improvise. He found dat it was even bedder because you would never run out of Sears, and you could keep it to reed when out back. ...Another time a deer fly flew into his ear and he needed somepin ta dig it out wit. Again, dis tool wurked swell. He found so many tings dat dis amaisin tool would do dat he taut he'd get it patented but as well as bein a avid gardner he's a prokrastinator and never got a round toit. He still kept it by da fence so he could remember where dis handy tool was. Among all dese udder tings dat dis ting could do is, if you stand it on da handle end, it will remind you which way is up.

...My question is, how'd youguys get it? He's spendin a lot of time lookin for it because he's lost his sense of direction.

Tom Bender

From: phinnbrit
Subject: Da latest Doo-Hickey
Date: March 7, 2007 10:52:03 AM EST
..I don't tink Don is tryin' to convey any kinda message. It's da last gesture his late wife gave him. Don's wife disappeared many years ago, and some suspect he knows her whereabouts. She was an extremely domineering woman, always belittling him in public, had a tenacious spirit, and wouldn't cut him any slack,
ever.

..One day he had enough and struck back. Not realizing how strong he was in a fit of temper, he accidently killed her.......well, he thought he did. As he was burying her in the garden, she pushed her hand up through da dirt and gave him her final "salute", telling him he was still the number one idiot in her life! Years went by, and he thought he would exhume her body and bury it elsewhere.

..While digging, his shovel hit something metallic. What he found was the fossilized hand of his deceased wife. Because of the high iron content in dat area, her hand turned to steel. He scrapped the idea of exhuming her and decided she may be slowly rusting away and in a few years there would be nothing but ferrous oxide left.
..He broke her hand off as a memento to the past, and all the misery he experienced, and placed it over
her grave as a marker.

From: MedMan4ER
Subject: da doo hickey
Date: June 4, 2007 12:44:29 PM EDT
..just how scare crows were used in the south, this one is all that is needed in the UP, instead of scarin the animals away its telling what he really thinks, from moles, rabbits, to deer, give them all a big F*U. let them animals know what they should go do instead of munching on the garden plants. ~

..From Mr. York whos love is a yooper and lives in Marquette, while ill most likley always be a roten troll living in Flint... PS.. Here in flint that would be an ortament we would hang in our rear view mirrors or mount in our back window seeing it would serve alot more use there.