I believe a handheld meat hook would not have springs and would have a wooden or metal handle that is perpendicular to the hook. Antique meat hooks are fairly primitive, contemporary ones are simple as well. A meat hook that hangs from a rack would have a round device allowing it to slide along the rack - kind of like a pulley. I am not an expert but for the above reasons I'm not sure these are meat hooks. Unless they are meat hooks that are simply missing the rolling mechanism from the top. I do think they are some type of industrial hook, but the exact purpose I honestly can't say w/o doing more research.