antique ice block tongs, heavy old forged iron tool ELCO Rockford Illinois

Early 1900s vintage ice tongs, to carry big ice blocks from the ice house to the iceman's delivery wagon to a kitchen sized icebox. This pair is ELCO (Rockford Illinois), very heavy, they open up to 11" wide.

These have been painted gold at some point (who knows why) but they don't look rough, and I think it would be a worthwhile project to strip off the gold paint and restore them to their former glory.