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rattletrap noun A noise-making device swung in the air, often used by pranksters at serenades (for its construction, see 1975 citation).

1939 Hall Coll (Catons Grove TN) I guess you people would like to know about serenades and how young folks got along back seventy years ago and longer. We had serenades. They'd make old big rattle traps they'd call 'em ... My, My! How they'd rattle and bang around. a1975 Lunsford It Used to Be 128 A rattletrap is made by taking a piece of hard wood, first trimming it in such a way that you can hold it in the hand. And on the end you shape the wood into a cog that is longer on one face — rather in the form of a ratchet. One side of the tooth of the cog is trimmed long, the other short. Then on the end of that cog a piece is screwed down, just tight enough till it can revolve around as you swing it. You put in three pegs in that piece — that'd be, say, an inch and a half long. You take a tough, springy white-oak strip of wood so one end will rest on the cog. And as you swing it around it will make all the noise you want. That's what they call the rattletrap.