Thread: please identify this item

This box of porcupine dishes was found in the estate of a lady who visited Russia many times. I don't know what the dishes are used for, or what they are made of. Thanks for any information you can give.

http://www.msnusers.com/MorrowPublisher ... hotoID=181[/u][/u][/u]

That's ash-trays (the souvenir ones). You can read it on the box. The leaf-shape ash-trays were rather common.

Originally Posted by amorrow

... or what they are made of.

I'm not sure. Bronze?

BTW, it's not a porcupine, it's a hedgehog.
ЁЖ, not ДИКОБРАЗ.

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Originally Posted by charlestonian

I think these simply are ceramic dishes depicting porcupine, that's all...

These are not "simply ceramic dishes" but ash-trays. And it's even written on the box, not mentioning I saw them plenty of times in action.
What that has to do with Anderson Art?

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Hedgehogs!!!
Or may be in American English they are porcupines too, I dunno...
like any conifer tree is "pine".

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Wow, it took you only two posts to realise something propp've already said twice.
I wonder how many posts it will take to realise they are metal, not ceramic.

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На коробочке написано "Еж".

Originally Posted by charlestonian

I did some reseach, and not just placed posts "out of blue" like some did.
And, why am I talking to you anyway? [Edited. L.]

I did no Google search since I know what it is. I saw these things a lot of times. Though if you need a proof try this:

Hedgehogs metal set ashtray figurines SIGNED AEROFLOT airlines (a variation of the amorrow's set)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Hedgehog-metal-asht ... 0010366381

also just someone's memories:

Был в 70-х годах ширпотребный набор в виде ежиков, вкладывающихся один в другого (получалась ежовая горка). Ежики были металлические, тяжелые и черные с серым отливом, с углублением вместо выпуклой спины, на коротеньких ножках.

(http://egmg.livejournal.com/257318.html)

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Hedgehogs dont grow bigger than your hand, and porcupines are about as big as a small dog. They're diffrent species.

http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/gra...rcupine6sm.jpg

http://www.fell2earth.com/puzzles/hedgehog.jpg

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Do you like little hedgehogs?
http://www.webpark.ru/comments.php?id=14289

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I like this song:
А я ёжиков люблю,
Я от ёжиков торчу,
Я от ёжиков шизею,
Будь они хоть три рубля

See full text on http://www.karaoke.ru/song/3997.htm

Originally Posted by charlestonian

Bye the way, the asker wrote "porcupine dishes" which, as it turned out, is not a correct term for dishes in his picture; search for "porcupine dishes" produced different results, as compared to search for the right term, "hedgehog dishes."

He (she?) asked what are these items, so it's obvious the asker wasn't sure about it himself. He could name it "ugly creatures dishes" for all I know, but that shouldn't affect the answer.

The asker isn't required to give "correct terms", we are not in court after all. Those who answer should just use their common sense. It's better not to answer at all if you're not sure or not to be so categorical in your answers.

Originally Posted by charlestonian

You know what else is missing in this translation forum? Grading the answer by peers. Some translation forums have these " agree" and "disagree" buttons where the rest of answerers can judge the answer.
............
The list of the 100 best translators, in each language, is displayed. It also helps askers to choose the right answer. .....................

The idea isn't bad though it's not quite germane, imho. This forum is not a contest or "Trivial pursuit", whith all these ratings and taking points.
We are here to exchange our views helping each other in the process.

P.S. You change conciderably your previous posts and do it quite often. Please mark these changes by the word "EDIT" or in any other way.
Otherwise the answering posts may seem nonsensical and the whole conversation seems ragged.
Thanx

Originally Posted by charlestonian

Originally Posted by Dogboy182

Hedgehogs dont grow bigger than your hand, and porcupines are about as big as a small dog. They're diffrent species.

http://www.nhptv.org/Natureworks/gra...rcupine6sm.jpg

http://www.fell2earth.com/puzzles/hedgehog.jpg

Yep. See my post about details.

Also, I have edited my previous post. There are some suggestions added. What do you people think about them? Would such structure of the forum help?

I was just backing you up dude.