I was too embarrassed to ask my mom, so I’m asking here — does anyone know what this crystal object is?

They were incredibly popular back when formal dining was a regular occurrence, coming in all sorts of beautiful shapes made of silver, porcelain, or, in this case, crystal.

Reading the comments and learning the true purpose of this little object made me feel surprisingly nostalgic. One commenter mentioned how they used to have a whole set of 12 for Thanksgiving dinners, and lamented that today, hardly anyone knows how to “play” fancy meals anymore.