r/whatisit • u/Several-Collar-5100 • 12h ago

Solved! What is this antenna pen for?

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Found at my late grandfather's home, who was a neurologist. It looks like an antenna, but you can't screw it onto something.

92 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

111 comments sorted by

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235

u/Fantastic-Dance-5250 12h ago

It’s for pointing at things. Like a fing-longer.

32

u/Guilty-Ad-1792 12h ago

I wonder what would have happened if I invented the fing-longer.

A man can dream though...a man can dream

9

u/ConnectRutabaga3925 11h ago

lol what an amazing episode

14

u/Nervous-Peppers 11h ago

r/UnexpectedFuturama

10

u/FocusMaster 11h ago

I beg to differ. I came here expecting to post or see a Futurama reference. I was just beat to it.

6

u/Fantastic-Dance-5250 11h ago

This was intentional futurama

11

u/TheBookofBobaFett3 11h ago

So that’s what life would be like if he invented the fing-longer

42

u/TriumphDaytona 11h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/HZM7OAm9E0xIAbV2cH

9

u/ChefTastyTreats 10h ago

She needs to be cast as a female homelander asap

3

u/ConnectRutabaga3925 11h ago

omg this update is awesome

5

u/No_Entertainment8238 12h ago

A man can dream though, a man can dream.

4

u/severusx 12h ago

Or the more recently invented toe-longer.

1

u/Last_Banana9505 54m ago

Good news, its a suppository....

64

u/Keyan06 12h ago

6

u/acidisgoodforyou 11h ago

It’s back

3

u/one-small-plant 11h ago

Yayay! I missed it

20

u/HerMajestysButthole2 11h ago

It's the professional version of

4

u/Gareth274 11h ago

I can hear this image.

17

u/Snoo_56131 12h ago

Pointer, not pen

13

u/PaperSweet9983 12h ago

Pointing to things...id personally use it on a map

7

u/acidisgoodforyou 11h ago

Because we’re animaniacs

4

u/one-small-plant 11h ago

We have pay for play contracts

10

u/Academic_Dog8389 12h ago

Pointing at things, usually a projection or a chalk/whiteboard. "The brain tumors can be seen here and here"

9

u/Bodark05 11h ago

I was gonna say retractible magnet as i use one for work but completely forgot retractible pointers were a thing back in the day 😅

4

u/NaiveZest 11h ago

Before laser pointers people used retractable sticks to point at things.

1

u/KC_Que 11h ago

retractable sticks

Dogs hate this one trick.

 🐶

3

u/FocusMaster 11h ago

It's the Lazer pointers predecessor.

2

u/Legal_Kangaroo6281 11h ago

Yep. I had a geography teacher that used this to point out places on maps.

4

u/Butterbean-queen 11h ago

It’s a telescoping pointer.

1

u/Whole_Performance852 11h ago

I knew this immediately. What's wrong w ppl.

1

u/Letters_to_Dionysus 11h ago

generations of people have grown up with digital whiteboards

4

u/SnooComics4100 9h ago

It’s a pointer for presentations. Upjohn is an old pharma company that merged into Pfizer in 2003.

3

u/Altruistic_Nobody_37 11h ago

It’s for pointing at things on whiteboards or anything you don’t want your body to get in way of.

3

u/CuriousTauri 11h ago

It looks like a telescopic pointer. I have something similar to use during lectures (to point at something on a slide or on a map). Some have touch-screen nubs to use on large touch screens or smartboards.

3

u/Will-E-Style 11h ago

It’s the OG PowerPoint[er]

2

u/Fastol4 12h ago

Looks like a pointer.

2

u/Snoo_56131 12h ago

Bonus: is an Upjohn .....

1

u/anteaterKnives 12h ago

What's upjohn?

:D

2

u/Snoo_56131 11h ago

Not much, what's up with you?

Aaaaah Pew pew finger guns

1

u/anteaterKnives 11h ago

Ayyyooooh!

1

u/Sensitive_Crow_8882 11h ago

You attach it to a henway.

1

u/Snoo_56131 11h ago

What's a henway?

1

u/Sensitive_Crow_8882 11h ago

If it’s a roaster about 4-5 lbs.

2

u/AlbertTheHorse 11h ago

It’s the Executive 2000 Presentation Accessory 

2

u/Wildskypsj 11h ago

My parents would have used it to change the channel on the TV without getting up. 😆 so i say it's an antique remote.

2

u/NecroFelix 11h ago

Spanking

2

u/North-Sir-3271 11h ago

Lectures/ presentations and pointing at far away words without blocking the board/screen

2

u/Free-Pair-3007 11h ago

Looks like updog to me

2

u/garbage-girl-xoxo 11h ago

Never heard of an updog

1

u/Free-Pair-3007 11h ago

Ask what it is

2

u/Several-Collar-5100 8h ago

What's updog?

1

u/Free-Pair-3007 8h ago

Not much what's up with you?

2

u/kirannm 11h ago

Smells like it too!

2

u/Jedimole 11h ago

Encrispinator, IYKYK

2

u/Low_Rest_5595 11h ago

Thats an analog pointer so you can point like a pilgrims did

2

u/heysoundude 9h ago

Oh my Upjohn. Are they still a company?

1

u/Educational-Rule1635 12h ago

Pointing at stuff.

1

u/Seamullet 12h ago

It's not polite to point...

1

u/waldolc 12h ago

It's a pointer. Often used during presentations. Precursor to laser pointers.

1

u/DrPisstrousers 12h ago

what's upjohn?

2

u/pconrad0 12h ago

Not much, you?

2

u/Bubbly-Following-966 12h ago

Lil' John's brother?

1

u/[deleted] 11h ago

[deleted]

1

u/DrPisstrousers 11h ago

(you were supposed to go "not much, what's up with you?")

1

u/Low_Rest_5595 11h ago

Not much dawg, what's up with you?

1

u/DrPisstrousers 11h ago

attaboy

2

u/Low_Rest_5595 10h ago

I got you 😉

1

u/Crissup 4h ago

I believe they’re the maker of Kaopectate.

1

u/FreddyFerdiland 12h ago

well ot telescopes like an antenna ..or a telescope... or concentric coaxial cylinders..

1

u/That-Collection-3411 12h ago

Well it bares the trades of a Parker so I'd say a pen with a possible companies name on it.

1

u/ilogical_person 11h ago

For writing on something from very far away

1

u/FleshFlounder15 11h ago

butt stuff

1

u/Equivalent_Ad5047 11h ago

Discrete BDSM tool

2

u/Sensitive_Crow_8882 11h ago

r/sounding

1

u/Equivalent_Ad5047 11h ago

Although I imagine it would be difficult to appropriately sterilize for that purpose…

1

u/Honest-Ad7566 11h ago

Whipping people in the nuts

1

u/TiMods88 11h ago

Pharma company

1

u/seraphieen 11h ago

Learnt something new through the comments

1

u/Mainly_Miserable 11h ago

You’re contractually obligated to use a German accent when using it to point at a map.

Ont ve shall attack vith ze panzas hea, hea, ont hea. Qeshtions? Zere should be none, ya?

1

u/10ccoughsyrup 11h ago

It’s for the what if machine

1

u/Efficient-Matter757 11h ago

If it's magnetic for picking up stuff on the floor

1

u/Prune-These 11h ago

Is the end magnetic? I used to use those to pick up small screws that fell into small spaces.

1

u/Stormcrowdick1066 11h ago

Just for pointing at things

1

u/Jimxor 11h ago

Overhead projectors would sometimes direct the image too high to reach. Hence the need for pointers. Some were wooden with a rubber tip but this one is collapsible for carrying in a shirt pocket.

1

u/CurrencyVault 10h ago

For pointing at things like look at the dumbass over there or look at that dumbass over there

1

u/Nexus_Neo 10h ago

Writing long letters

1

u/WhiskeyWatchesWine 10h ago

Before laser pointers. “Analog”.

1

u/Neurodrill 10h ago

It’s an analog laser pointer

1

u/Trick_Engine1714 10h ago

I used to use one of these to press the test button on smoke detectors at home inspections

1

u/Frequent_Translator3 10h ago

Magnet at the end?

1

u/LastCookie3448 9h ago

Before we had laser pointers….

1

u/AZSystems 9h ago

Before lasers, they actually had these to point at specifics in presentations.

1

u/Spiritual_Smell4744 9h ago

Go on, I'll bite.

What's Upjohn?

1

u/kmacaze 8h ago

Is there, or was there a magnet at the end?

1

u/cbhbzb 8h ago

it's for smacking people across the face

1

u/DeliciousConfusion31 5h ago

Magnetic? Or comes to a sharp point? It’s hard to tell from the pics, it could be an old-school version of some type of grabber or maybe it had a magnetic tip, maybe it’s just a pointer. I am sure when he was going through medical school and using applied knowledge to correct a brain issue by pointing at different procedures that need to take place and using the pointer to show his colleagues how they are going to go about an important numerological procedure. Endless possibilities my friend