Fairings were traditionally any glittery item made to commemorate the fair. These have a thin metal foil overlaid with wire.
Beaded bobbins have #15 seed beads inset into the bobbin shaft.
Standard Midlands styles average 4 1/8 inches in length and 1/4 inch diameter or thicker. These bobbins are made of commercially sterilized cow bone and take much longer to turn, due to the hardness of bone and the curvature of the blanks. The difficulty of finding good bone may also produce a slightly shorter bobbin. Once they are turned, they are sterilized again, which also whitens them a bit.
And yes, they are drilled for a spangling wire. The drill hole is not large enough to hide the knot; I do not encourage putting the wire knot in the bobbin because that will wear the bone as the spangle swings, and can cause the tail to break.
