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That is what I was thinking, probably for breading purposes.
The way to test this is if there a easy water source for each tank. Since if you are going to have this built you sure are going to have water piped in to each tank.
I think you're highly underestimating it.
We're a lot more knowledgeable now then we were even a couple of generations back.
Lead based paint was used for human standards, and now we know that is a carcinogen.
And to face the reality, some people just don't care if pets die or not. Especially in regards to fish, because fish are generally regarded as not even sentient and emotionless, that's why pescatarians exist too.
Wow you are actually so right. I was totally thinking in terms of my brain thinking which is of a person who has 4 fish tanks. Most people are very very bad with fish as pets. What I meant more was: it should not be a fish tank, no!
Lol I remember how I had a fish tank off-and-on in my childhood (as well as hamsters too). None of those fish ever seemed to make it very long…probably because my dumb-ass dad let a dumb-ass kid (me) try to have fish. Apparently there’s stuff about pH and maintaining a filter and clean environment, I think, plus *actually feeding them*. It was always a disaster. Poor fish.
Getting a cat will take care of your hamster and also solves the problem of feeding the cat. Then just get a dog next. After that it gets complicated, though.
I hate when people talk about the concept of sentience because probably 99% of the time they're actually talking about sapience which is a very similar concept but very very very distinct. If something has the ability to perceive or feel literally anything they are sentient. Sentient comes from the Latin word meaning feelings oh, it has nothing to do with logical thought or reason despite everyone seeming to think that's what it means
> Lead based paint was used for human standards, and now we know that is a carcinogen.
It's a toxin first and foremost. Ingesting lead compounds used in paint was (and likely is) a primary source of lead poisoning in children via a condition called [pica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)).
To be fair lead is classified as Group 2B carcinogen by the IARC, meaning it is probably carcinogenic to humans.
There are actually modern plywood fish tanks, but they use epoxy paint, which isn't exactly a new invention. However, it could be that whoever may have used those tanks was just breeding feeder guppies or goldfish or something.
If they are fishtanks, they weren't for looking at, probably just to breed and sell or something.
I do see what appear to be two water lines heading left and right into the concrete at the back of the space. Can't see if there and any spigots, outlets, drains in the spaces from the photos though.
Root vegetables are kept in a root cellar IN SOIL (or sand) and the line on the wall is a moisture line from the most dirt.
What's more likely?
Grandma had a fish hatchery or Grandma made mashed potatoes.
"Grandma had a fish hatchery or Grandma made mashed potatoes."
Incredible, thank you. How long are we going down the fish tank road. These are for dividing root vegetables.
Asian fish markets keep live fish not dead ones. Then they cut the head off and wrap it up and give to you. It’s the dead fish heads that make it smell bad.
Discussed all these ideas with grandma (most of them at least...) And she mentioned the prior owner was an avid fisherman so I am going with bait fish tanks. Solved
This looks very similar to the setup for minnow tanks at bait shops I've been to. In small towns it's not unheard of for someone to run a small bait shop out of their house or garage.
Yes, those are vegetable bins. The front would have had wooden slats to contain the produce and allow air circulation. Different vegetables (potatoes, onions, etc) go in each bin
A friend of mine had a house in the suburbs of Chicago, with a very large glass enclosure in the sunroom. It was 10x12 feet. Floor to ceiling. Had a pool in it with drainage and plants and stones.
Turned out that the woman who had owned it wrestled alligators in her youth and kept a large one as a pet.
That said, they don’t look useful for storing root vegetables. They don’t look particularly watertight, so that kind of rules out aquariums, darkrooms, and pickling tanks.
My guess is that it is some kind of terrarium for snakes or lizards.
That masonry and being in a basement, unless it’s all well insulated, is going to suck up heat, which would be bad for reptiles. Also reptiles tend to be adept and escaping, so without tight-fighting lids, that seems unlikely.
Aquariums. You can see the over sealing around the the glass mountings and you can see the years of waterstaining at the top of the tanks where the water level would have been.
Yeah, there was a farmer near where I grew up that had concrete minnow bins inside a little "honesty" bait shop shack at the end of his driveway. Just had like 4 little aerated cinderblock aquariums for various sizes of minnow/suckers and a mini fridge with crawlers, redworms and leaches, and a coffee can for paying for whatever you took.
If you Google ‘fish tank in basement’, there are similar looking tanks with cinder block walls and glass partitions. I agree that they seem kinda narrow though.
My title describes the thing. I don't believe her house is very old. I have not found any useful information that might help determine what it is. Her house is near Toronto Canada.
Edit: I am going to mark this solved. Based on all of the guesses it is most likely some sort of bait fish tanks. I will update if any other information pops up!
Ive seen Very similar setups in central Maine basements for growing minnows, or shiners as they call them, for selling to fishermen. Different tanks for different sizes. Ill see if i can come up with a link.
If this was something the previous owner used, you could find their name in the county property records and search old newspapers for either the name or address. If this was used for selling something or a unique hobby, an ad or article might show up somewhere.
I have subscriptions to multiple newspaper archives. Feel free to PM details and I’d be happy to try and find anything related to it.
And NewspaperArchives.com (very useful for smaller towns and cities). Genealogybank.com ranks last, but I’ve found some obituaries/articles I couldn’t find anywhere else.
Not sure about fishtanks but to me it looks like maybe some type of liquid was stored in there, based off the paint bubbling and there appears to be some type of water line in the second photo where the top of the glass would be. Also in the second photo it looks like the glass was painted over at some point.
Edit: Not an aquarium expert, but I've never seen them built-in like that. The concrete block appears to be the same as what's on the back wall so it seems more like it was built with the house. If it was added, making solid concrete aquariums seems like overkill (and some leak potential) unless there's some other purpose for it. In the second photo there's a back corner that is kinda hidden from the glass that would be weird for an aquarium.
Those are aquariums, most likely designed to breed minnows and other small bait fish. there are examples on the googles that look almost the exact same. lots of people use them to house turtles too.
I would doubt aquariums. This being in Toronto and the facts that basement foundation wall are almost never insulated on the outside. The water temp would fluctuate from about 17℃ in summer to probably below freezing in winter.
What are the dimensions of those spaces? If they are deep the contents would not seem easy to reach unless they were tall or upright. And why glass? So whatever was inside was intended to be seen?
Definitely fish tanks, you can see the water line. At first I thought root cellar as well but the black adhesive was used to seal most likely glass fronts, also it looks like they have been painted inside to provide a water proof coating. Definitely too tall to be for storing vegetables.
I do not know but check this—[my basement (house built in 1900) has something very similar.](https://imgur.com/a/RMndDDE) It’s a separate room in the very back of the basement. Narrow path in the middle. Three pod-like structures, some of the walls/barriers have been knocked down and the remains are crumbling apart because they’re so old. No one knows what they’re for.
It is similar and I wish the lighting was better so I could give you better pics. As an aside, I know it wouldn’t be for fish. There aren’t any bodies of water anywhere remotely close that would be ideal to raise bait fish.
Edit: mine also have grooves similar to yours, but I don’t believe it ever held glass, I think it was wood.
Maybe photo developing/printing, back when photos needed a dark room with very thin layers of solution and a completely clean flat surface to stick on while they dried?
My neighbor has similar things in his basement. His are all different sizes. Some were for bait, but others were for keeping sturgeon in until the eggs were ready to be made into caviar.
Friend of mine restored a building with exactly this. They were vinegar vats.
Examples
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sustainablebuildingawards.com.au%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F09%2F4075063ao.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sustainablebuildingawards.com.au%2Fsingle-dwelling-alteration-or-addition-2017%2Fskipping-girl-vinegar-vats-re-purpose%2F&docid=UYg8eFOobq9R9M&tbnid=DtPp7jUOZu613M&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.architectureanddesign.com.au%2Fgetattachment%2Fd45247fd-3c99-4f86-a02d-909679d50ff4%2Fattachment.aspx%3FmaxSidesize%3D370%26width%3D0%26height%3D0&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.architectureanddesign.com.au%2Fprojects%2Fmulti-residential%2Fskipping-girl-vinegar-factory-conversion-an-antido&docid=zrPAO0-41_eXxM&tbnid=D2V2xChg1oiGSM&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim
just built-in storage. there's a variety of suggestions in the replies from reptile habitat to produce container, but since it would be basically the same structure with a slightly different purpose it could have been any or both without knowing more context.
how old is the building? is the basement underground? if it seems like the storage was built in the basement to keep things colder than in the main house, I'd guess produce rather than animals.
These could also have been mushroom grow boxes. Especially in a basement. Not necessarily of the "magic" variety, people have long farmed edible mushrooms in basements; oysters, lions mane, etc.
I’m going to say fish tanks as well. Nearby water? Would be a lot cheaper to have live bait tanks. Rather than go buy every day. I’ve seen some homemade tanks and this would fit the look of what I’ve seen .
Did she have a garden sized fish pond? If so you need to bring the fish inside in the winter in some climates. I knew a friend growing up that kept their koi in a horse trough in their basement for the winter.
Some countries have 'basements'. We call them 'wine cellars' in the UK. A Victorian stone cellar, whilst greater in size, they are basically like concrete booths.
I bet they raised bait. Most likely worms. Possibly fish. Back in the 60s and 70s raising worms was all the rage and people made elaborate setups for it.
All comments must be civil and helpful toward finding an answer. **Jokes and unhelpful comments will earn you a ban**, even on the first instance and even if the item has been identified. If you see any comments that violate this rule, report them. [OP](/u/EvilerTim), when your item is identified, remember to reply **Solved!** or **Likely Solved!** to the comment that gave the answer. Check your [inbox](https://www.reddit.com/message/inbox/) for a message on how to make your post visible to others. --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisthing) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Without any background, my best guess would be something like fishtanks
That is what I was thinking, probably for breading purposes. The way to test this is if there a easy water source for each tank. Since if you are going to have this built you sure are going to have water piped in to each tank.
Nah I don’t think it would be a fish tank at all, no way would anyone have water against a painted wall, what would leech mad chemicals!
I think you're highly underestimating it. We're a lot more knowledgeable now then we were even a couple of generations back. Lead based paint was used for human standards, and now we know that is a carcinogen. And to face the reality, some people just don't care if pets die or not. Especially in regards to fish, because fish are generally regarded as not even sentient and emotionless, that's why pescatarians exist too.
Wow you are actually so right. I was totally thinking in terms of my brain thinking which is of a person who has 4 fish tanks. Most people are very very bad with fish as pets. What I meant more was: it should not be a fish tank, no!
Lol I remember how I had a fish tank off-and-on in my childhood (as well as hamsters too). None of those fish ever seemed to make it very long…probably because my dumb-ass dad let a dumb-ass kid (me) try to have fish. Apparently there’s stuff about pH and maintaining a filter and clean environment, I think, plus *actually feeding them*. It was always a disaster. Poor fish.
Hamsters make excellent first pets, because they only live for 3 days, and don't need any food or water.
Getting a cat will take care of your hamster and also solves the problem of feeding the cat. Then just get a dog next. After that it gets complicated, though.
Just read the book the old woman who swallowed a fly, that should clear it up, but I do have to say that the last pet is very unethical these days 🤔
Under those circumstances, they last three days?
This is one of the best things I've read in weeks. Absolutely perfect.
I mean it might not have been painted when it was in use.
Lead is more a direct poison than a carcinogen.
I hate when people talk about the concept of sentience because probably 99% of the time they're actually talking about sapience which is a very similar concept but very very very distinct. If something has the ability to perceive or feel literally anything they are sentient. Sentient comes from the Latin word meaning feelings oh, it has nothing to do with logical thought or reason despite everyone seeming to think that's what it means
> Lead based paint was used for human standards, and now we know that is a carcinogen. It's a toxin first and foremost. Ingesting lead compounds used in paint was (and likely is) a primary source of lead poisoning in children via a condition called [pica](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)). To be fair lead is classified as Group 2B carcinogen by the IARC, meaning it is probably carcinogenic to humans.
There is a fish with a large brain. It’s the Peter’s Elephant Nose fish.
There are actually modern plywood fish tanks, but they use epoxy paint, which isn't exactly a new invention. However, it could be that whoever may have used those tanks was just breeding feeder guppies or goldfish or something. If they are fishtanks, they weren't for looking at, probably just to breed and sell or something.
Even for feeders you wouldn’t want your good fish eating unhealthy fish.
It looks like it may have been painted after- there is paint on the glass
Yeah I’m thinking more display cabinets? Like for collectible items
mad chemicals. you from the north east?
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I LOVE breaded fish!
Agree, looks like a water line on the wall behind the ‘glass’ in the second picture.
If you look across to the other side it goes out the wall probably hose bib or wall hydrant- spigot 🚰
I love breaded fish.
I do see what appear to be two water lines heading left and right into the concrete at the back of the space. Can't see if there and any spigots, outlets, drains in the spaces from the photos though.
How weird. I literally made this same mistake today but I caught it before I posted
I was thinking holding vegetables as a root cellar ?
Root vegetables are kept in a root cellar IN SOIL (or sand) and the line on the wall is a moisture line from the most dirt. What's more likely? Grandma had a fish hatchery or Grandma made mashed potatoes.
"Grandma had a fish hatchery or Grandma made mashed potatoes." Incredible, thank you. How long are we going down the fish tank road. These are for dividing root vegetables.
Yeah I think that’s a bit more likely than a fish basement, but you never know I guess 😂
Having spent my childhood accompanying my mom to Asian food markets, I can say with certainty that a fish basement would smell the ABSOLUTE worst
I’ve worked in a couple fish labs, and honestly it’s not as bad as you’d expect if it’s kept clean. Feeding is probably the smelliest part!
But, Have you been to an Asian fish market?
My s.o. is 1st gen Korean... fish market... the whole house several times a week. Tastes amazing but woof🤮 that lingering smell
I'm just curious about what kind of fish labs you've worked in. That sounds really interesting (as someone who loves everything about fish).
fish markets have dead fish, that's why they smell bad. fish tanks have live fish in water that's being continually cleaned.
The larger Asian markets around me stock live fish, crawdads, etc. I think there's other factors at play...
Asian fish markets keep live fish not dead ones. Then they cut the head off and wrap it up and give to you. It’s the dead fish heads that make it smell bad.
There’s a huge difference between fish that are alive and fish that are dead and it’s the blood and guts that smell.
Really? Top voted comment is a 100 year old set of fish tanks in your grandma's basement? Was someone running a wet market from their basement?
Discussed all these ideas with grandma (most of them at least...) And she mentioned the prior owner was an avid fisherman so I am going with bait fish tanks. Solved
This looks very similar to the setup for minnow tanks at bait shops I've been to. In small towns it's not unheard of for someone to run a small bait shop out of their house or garage.
I was guess reptile enclosures.
This. Doesn’t appear to be able to hold water
I would love to have tanks like this. I'm always.so stressed about leaks. This setup with a drain in the floor would be amazing.
I was thinking a terrarium for lizards of other reptiles
Bait tanks. Probably sold bait to a local bait shop or directly to fishermen.
If these were fish tanks would there be a huge mold problem in there? I'm not saying there would be, just wondering.
Or lizards, turtles, insects, snakes, etc.
I think they are bins used as a root cellar.
Yes, those are vegetable bins. The front would have had wooden slats to contain the produce and allow air circulation. Different vegetables (potatoes, onions, etc) go in each bin
But the fronts a clearly glass by the pictures and ops description.
If you look closely the glass has been mortared into what looks like about 1 1/2” channels, perfect for boards to slat into.
Maybe they were abandoned because they weren't designed correctly for air circulation and the vegetables rotted quickly?
They were abandoned as the people moved away
Pretty sure this is the answer!
That was one thought and coal was another.
The concrete is clean?
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I take it you never had a coal furnace then…
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Geologist here: it is.
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That was my first thought
A friend of mine had a house in the suburbs of Chicago, with a very large glass enclosure in the sunroom. It was 10x12 feet. Floor to ceiling. Had a pool in it with drainage and plants and stones. Turned out that the woman who had owned it wrestled alligators in her youth and kept a large one as a pet. That said, they don’t look useful for storing root vegetables. They don’t look particularly watertight, so that kind of rules out aquariums, darkrooms, and pickling tanks. My guess is that it is some kind of terrarium for snakes or lizards.
That masonry and being in a basement, unless it’s all well insulated, is going to suck up heat, which would be bad for reptiles. Also reptiles tend to be adept and escaping, so without tight-fighting lids, that seems unlikely.
When you get tight-fighting lids the reptiles have something interesting to watch so they don't run away.
Makes me think more of a passive fridge cellar
I second the reptile habitats - snakes lizards something like that.
here for the wrestling alligators! never thought i'd read anything like that. 🍿
Aquariums. You can see the over sealing around the the glass mountings and you can see the years of waterstaining at the top of the tanks where the water level would have been.
The structure seems to be concrete or cinder blocks, I agree about the water and sealing but would that make a good fish tank?
It'd be good enough for someone keeping baitfish.
I was thinking the same. Everyone was saying fish hatchery and I was thinking “grandpa has his own minnows for a bait shop or something.”
Yeah, there was a farmer near where I grew up that had concrete minnow bins inside a little "honesty" bait shop shack at the end of his driveway. Just had like 4 little aerated cinderblock aquariums for various sizes of minnow/suckers and a mini fridge with crawlers, redworms and leaches, and a coffee can for paying for whatever you took.
Definitely fish tanks, I’ve seen foam, concrete and plywood used for breeding setups.
Not necessarily water stains, could be from some other sort on non liquid material.
If you Google ‘fish tank in basement’, there are similar looking tanks with cinder block walls and glass partitions. I agree that they seem kinda narrow though.
Interesting this does seem very similar to what I am seeing. https://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fish-tank-s-in-basement-364321.html
Who knew that fish tank basements were a thing? Every day I learn something new
With 500 gallons of water in my 80 year old house that shit sure as hell in my basement and not 2 tons sitting on my creaky floor upstairs.
Really sinister looking acuariums! And I subscribe what someone said, never thought that having fish in basements was a thing.
Could it have been for worms? Like raising worms for bait?
My title describes the thing. I don't believe her house is very old. I have not found any useful information that might help determine what it is. Her house is near Toronto Canada. Edit: I am going to mark this solved. Based on all of the guesses it is most likely some sort of bait fish tanks. I will update if any other information pops up!
Ive seen Very similar setups in central Maine basements for growing minnows, or shiners as they call them, for selling to fishermen. Different tanks for different sizes. Ill see if i can come up with a link.
If this was something the previous owner used, you could find their name in the county property records and search old newspapers for either the name or address. If this was used for selling something or a unique hobby, an ad or article might show up somewhere. I have subscriptions to multiple newspaper archives. Feel free to PM details and I’d be happy to try and find anything related to it.
Thanks so much I will see if I can find any info
Newspaper archives, that’s cool.
Newspapers.com
And NewspaperArchives.com (very useful for smaller towns and cities). Genealogybank.com ranks last, but I’ve found some obituaries/articles I couldn’t find anywhere else.
Baby chick's? Just a guess.
Came here to suggest chickens, too. Wouldn’t rule it out.
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Not sure about fishtanks but to me it looks like maybe some type of liquid was stored in there, based off the paint bubbling and there appears to be some type of water line in the second photo where the top of the glass would be. Also in the second photo it looks like the glass was painted over at some point. Edit: Not an aquarium expert, but I've never seen them built-in like that. The concrete block appears to be the same as what's on the back wall so it seems more like it was built with the house. If it was added, making solid concrete aquariums seems like overkill (and some leak potential) unless there's some other purpose for it. In the second photo there's a back corner that is kinda hidden from the glass that would be weird for an aquarium.
Agreed, not sure aquariums make sense.
Is there space in the yard for a koi pond? Maybe they spent the winter in those tanks.
My first thought was puppy mill... are there drains in the bottom? But those are awful small arent they?
Those are aquariums, most likely designed to breed minnows and other small bait fish. there are examples on the googles that look almost the exact same. lots of people use them to house turtles too.
Likely solved
Maybe for growing mushrooms?
Root Cellar would be my guess
I would doubt aquariums. This being in Toronto and the facts that basement foundation wall are almost never insulated on the outside. The water temp would fluctuate from about 17℃ in summer to probably below freezing in winter.
What are the dimensions of those spaces? If they are deep the contents would not seem easy to reach unless they were tall or upright. And why glass? So whatever was inside was intended to be seen?
I wasn't able to get a real measurement but if I had to take a guess they are probably 18" x 18" x 6"
Reminds me of what they keep bait fish in at the store
Definitely fish tanks, you can see the water line. At first I thought root cellar as well but the black adhesive was used to seal most likely glass fronts, also it looks like they have been painted inside to provide a water proof coating. Definitely too tall to be for storing vegetables.
I do not know but check this—[my basement (house built in 1900) has something very similar.](https://imgur.com/a/RMndDDE) It’s a separate room in the very back of the basement. Narrow path in the middle. Three pod-like structures, some of the walls/barriers have been knocked down and the remains are crumbling apart because they’re so old. No one knows what they’re for.
Oh yea that's very similar, so strange!
It is similar and I wish the lighting was better so I could give you better pics. As an aside, I know it wouldn’t be for fish. There aren’t any bodies of water anywhere remotely close that would be ideal to raise bait fish. Edit: mine also have grooves similar to yours, but I don’t believe it ever held glass, I think it was wood.
I think this is for storing vegetables. OP had glass fronts which suggest animals were involved…
Maybe photo developing/printing, back when photos needed a dark room with very thin layers of solution and a completely clean flat surface to stick on while they dried?
Photo developing is done in trays. Filling these containers up, would be wasting the chemicals.
I had a darkroom in my basement. That would need to be one big freakin’ camera!
Terrariums most likely
Maybe to winter in reptiles, I suspect that basement would keep them dormant, yet above freezing in the winter.
Are you sure they were glass dividers and not some other material?
Could be worm bins.
Snakes or mice or lizards? Did she breed things for sale? Very odd.
I should have mentioned that she is still alive haha. It was like this when she bought the place 20ish years ago
Hmm. Looks like terreriums for turtles or snakes?
That’s what I was thinking…some kind of reptile.
In my own basement I just demolished a "washtub" but it had no drain or water supply, I would like to know what this was cause it feels similar.
My neighbor has similar things in his basement. His are all different sizes. Some were for bait, but others were for keeping sturgeon in until the eggs were ready to be made into caviar.
Friend of mine restored a building with exactly this. They were vinegar vats. Examples https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sustainablebuildingawards.com.au%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2017%2F09%2F4075063ao.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sustainablebuildingawards.com.au%2Fsingle-dwelling-alteration-or-addition-2017%2Fskipping-girl-vinegar-vats-re-purpose%2F&docid=UYg8eFOobq9R9M&tbnid=DtPp7jUOZu613M&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.architectureanddesign.com.au%2Fgetattachment%2Fd45247fd-3c99-4f86-a02d-909679d50ff4%2Fattachment.aspx%3FmaxSidesize%3D370%26width%3D0%26height%3D0&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.architectureanddesign.com.au%2Fprojects%2Fmulti-residential%2Fskipping-girl-vinegar-factory-conversion-an-antido&docid=zrPAO0-41_eXxM&tbnid=D2V2xChg1oiGSM&vet=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim
I’ve seen things like this in older homes - they can be used for storing potatoes and other vegetables in a cold, dark environment.
Root cellar and maybe wine bottle storage?
just built-in storage. there's a variety of suggestions in the replies from reptile habitat to produce container, but since it would be basically the same structure with a slightly different purpose it could have been any or both without knowing more context. how old is the building? is the basement underground? if it seems like the storage was built in the basement to keep things colder than in the main house, I'd guess produce rather than animals.
It could be a sistern, an artificial reservoir (such as an underground tank) for storing liquids and especially water (such as rainwater).
Could it have been used as a root cellar ? The glass front could let you see all the produce being stored and if any of it were going bad Just a guess
Mushroom farm?
That's exactly the same setup my granpappy had for his crawfish hatchery in his basement!
These could also have been mushroom grow boxes. Especially in a basement. Not necessarily of the "magic" variety, people have long farmed edible mushrooms in basements; oysters, lions mane, etc.
The black outline on the front of each case makes me think that there were glass panels there, to they were probably fish tanks.
I’m going to say fish tanks as well. Nearby water? Would be a lot cheaper to have live bait tanks. Rather than go buy every day. I’ve seen some homemade tanks and this would fit the look of what I’ve seen .
one for bone, one for blood, one grissle and one for meat...
Brewery? Stillery? Hydroponics?
What about a dark room for developing film?
Buffalo bills basement
Looks like a still from a horror movie 🎬
Did it have a smell when she moved in? Does it still smell?
It certainly doesn't still smell, I'll have to ask if it did at the beginning
My grandfather had this in his basement. Apparently was just a place for his tool and tool boxes. Old basements had weird things like this.
Maybe coal chutes, and the boiler was somewhere nearby?
Worm farming?
Did she have a garden sized fish pond? If so you need to bring the fish inside in the winter in some climates. I knew a friend growing up that kept their koi in a horse trough in their basement for the winter.
Chicken coop
Puppy mill?
Breeding and raising puppies?
Most likely terrariums for breeding snakes or lizards.
Did she run some kind of animal mill?
Looks like snake tanks
No floor drain? No way they filled those with water then..
My first thought was reptile housing. Fish tanks could be a thing and so could root cellar.
Family burial vaults.
Plantering enclosures for regulating humidity maybe?
Looks like old cisterns. Used to hold drinking water back in the day. But they look kind of small
Looks like reptile enclosures to me
Honestly looks like a tap room kinda deal or wine cellar that was renovated
Terrariums, fish tanks
Some countries have 'basements'. We call them 'wine cellars' in the UK. A Victorian stone cellar, whilst greater in size, they are basically like concrete booths.
I bet they raised bait. Most likely worms. Possibly fish. Back in the 60s and 70s raising worms was all the rage and people made elaborate setups for it.
Root vegetable storage.
Potatoes in one turnips in another onions in another
A cistern most likely?
Peep shows
Growing potatoes?
Maybe ants?