A boot scraper was kept outdoors next to the doorway to scrape mud off your boots before entering the house. This vintage 7-inch by 10-inch flying witch-shaped boot scraper was made by the Albany Foundry Company. The firm operated from 1897 to 1932 on Van Rensselaer's Island, near Albany, N.Y. It specialized in doorstops, bookends, hitching posts, andirons and other iron castings. The witch originally sold for a dollar or two; this one sold for $2,645 at a recent Copake auction.

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