Dude! That's a waffle iron...no wait, a campfire toaster...er...walnut roaster...campfire omelette pan! Coffee Break2

Sorry JS...But I don't think so.

I'd recognize that anywhere! It's the small scale prop of a space ship used to film 50's sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet" (and about 25 other films/TV shows)

Hand operated hi-hats.

TXAndy,

You have what is called a "sock cymbal". Or "sock cymbal set". I have no idea why they were called 'sock cymbals' but that's what they are.

They were hand operated and typically used as part of the arsenal of 'traps' that a drummer would have before the swing movement picked up steam and made the drumset a more standard instrument

It was an early predecessor to the high hat. Those are probably 6-8 inch cymbals that sound kind of clunky. It's a really cool item though.

Every once in a while one of those comes up on ebay and goes for some ridiculous price like $400. I say keep it, because it's cool and it has some family history. Not many of those are still around.

Thanks,

I was just wondering what it was and how it might have been used. It has an intresting sound. I'll hold on to it. Andy

The History of the old Trap Drummer was back in the days of Silent Films and Live Shows. The player not only player the music to accompany the act or film but he would add sound effects to the show.

The arsenal would often include, bells, slide whistles (slip on a banana peel) train whistles, cap guns (or cap poppers), duck calls, hand bells, chimes, triangles, wood blocks, coconut shells (horse gallops) and other items to accent action in the show.

This cymbal set is a part of that history. Keep it!

This definitely looks like a hand cymbal. It freed up one hand to play other sound effects, or instruments, in vaudeville. I've heard two stories about the advent of the term sock cymbal, one from the Not So Modern Drummer, said that something very similar to your cymbal which sat on the floor and had a flat pedal like part where yours has the tape handles. They were called snow shoes. The other is a story from my drum teacher who was in his 60s or 70s in the 60s who said that the Low-boy low hi hat would often hit the drummer just above the ankle and create a hole in your sock. So it became known as the sock cymbal. Just a little useless trivia..

That's not a sock cymbal. There are plenty of photographic examples of sock cymbals if you search google.

Sock cymbals were the precursor of high hats, which are still refered to as sock cymbals by older drummers, including me. They had a rudimentary foot pedal and the cymbals were held a few inches from the floor. I've always assumed they were called sock cymbals because they were located at the level of ones socks, but that could be wishful thinking on my part. The device in question looks like it would be hand operated and probably part of a effects trap set.