Hello antiquers! We've got this interesting piece for you today! The color is more of a medium gray and both sides unscrew to reveal compartments. Appears to be made of tin. We would like to know what it is exactly and what it was used for.
Obviously made for storing galoshes, half a pair in each end, to keep them dry and protect them from being consumed by hungry dogs or goats. The device fell into disfavor because the maker, Rin Tin, Inc., had not thought to label the ends “Right” and “Left” and users often forgot which galosh had gone into which end, resulting in an embarrassing reversal when donning their inclimate weather garb. An additional difficulty ensued when the twin airtight compartments did not allow the contents to dry after use. The final blow came, regrettably, only three years after the first 10,000 of these units had been sold. A New York Times letter to the editor on June 13, 1939 mentioned that many Rin Tin owners were unable to open either compartment after less than a year of use. The constant moisture inside resulted in corrosion which prevented the 14-inch diameter covers from being unscrewed. Rin Tin sales went flat and the company declared bankruptcy on December 4, 1939.
Hi, I have the same tin, had for years always thought it was for fixing flats on old tires with inner tubes. One side is deep and the other side has a smaller compartment and lid. greg
It looks like a great container for storing small quantities of two kinds of birdseed. No clue what it was originally used for.
I put in some more time on this despite the thoughtless posting lacking dimensions. Last time I’ll ever look at this member’s dimensionless postings though. WW1 military condiment can, 3 items, made to last 3 days, scroll down here https://www.houzz.com/projects/92188/jars-jugs
Hi Spring, Thanks for your delving. I never dreamed it was that old. Sorry about not listing the size, I apologise. I am usually so careful about listing. It was late for me. greg
G- sry wasn’t directed at u but at OP who routinely does that. Also sry in general about acting so hostile then-I wrote that after an incident where yesterday a warehouse “helper” had given some on my merchandise away to a mutual friend because he didn’t think I’d object. Well I did object after the fact simply because he did it without asking. Next time he’s history! Even caused me bad dreams last night- I dreamed was selling at a big antique flea market and staying at a hotel on the other end of the market from my booth. Hotel had a slot machine. I put in one quarter after trading one of the tub-shaped quarters I had in my pocket (in my dream the older quarters were shaped like small galvanized wash tubs and of course wouldn’t fit in the slot machine) for a flat quarter. I won what looked like hundreds of $ in all denominations of US coins, pennies to halves, and put them in two used cardboard boxes, and got those with difficulty to the far edge of the market from my booth, near the booth of a junky-antiques dealer I knew only slightly, and put the boxes under one of his tables mentioning I’d return with my handtruck. When I returned the boxes were gone and even looking all around with his permission didn’t turn anything up. I knew he had made off with them, put the boxes in his car or something. Now I’m thinking someone who has been extremely fortunate and lucky especially in recent years should be a lot more charitable and forgiving. So everyone who has offended me by committing the major crime of posting dimensionless images, is hereby forgiven, I’ll just quietly put future “offenders” on “ignore” and keep such unreasonable hangups to myself!
