Pair of cast iron brackets...maybe for exhaust system? Please help to ID

[lump]

Hello all. Like many of you, I have cool older items laying around that I'm not sure what they are for, but they are too nice to throw away. I've had this pair of brackets for decades. I took them to Hershey a few times, and put them on display (among other unknown items), with signs saying, "What am I?" 

 

That tactic worked well, and I was able to ID many items. But these two brackets have stumped me. Yet they are STILL too nice to discard. The u-bolt circle seems to be just 1.5" (3.81 cm). 

 

For the record, I got them from an old auto repair garage in Three Rivers, Massachusetts, decades ago. They came with a LOAD of car parts going back into the 1920s. 

 

Thanks in advance! 

[lump]

For myself, I have guessed at exhaust pipe hangers, and lamp brackets. What do you folks think? 

[Stude17]

To me they have the look of part of a  1920's vehicle spare wheel carrier. 

[C Carl]

That was indeed my first thought. I scratched that for the u-bolt clamp. I think for that purpose the other half of the clamp would also have been a casting. Surprising loads imparted by a heavy spare hanging well aft of the rear axle.   -   Carl 

[Gunsmoke]

The 12" long cast arm with that 75 degree bend, and only an end bolt to hold in position, suggests it relied on gravity to keep it from rotating, so a hanger of some sort. The small diameter of only 1.5" creates a bit of a puzzle? too small for any wheel/tire application, about right size for many tail pipes of the era. Both are same part, and may have been a tailpipe hanger (for 2 different cars) which would have connected to chassis near rear bumper, with the 75 degree offset necessary to clear something. In the early days exhaust systems were rigidly connected to chassis, no rubber "vibration reduction" devices. Then again, they may be plumbing brackets (for machinery), not automotive at all.   

[28 Chrysler]

I also think they are for a spare tire carrier and clamp on the rear spreader bar.

The photo is part on a 1926 Chrysler Model 70, 1 5/8" diameter rear spreader bar.

[lump]

Thanks for the replies. Maybe someday these can be identified. And if so, I'll bet that somewhere, there is someone who would be really glad to have them! 

[lump]

Bumped to see if any new ideas might exist?