What Is This Wooden Thing

About 20 1/2" tall. Some kind of pounder, masher ... ? Suggestions on type of wood and possible age?
Made of few pieces glued together. Would not be easier to make it of a single piece? Like carved and then ground and polished. Or turned on lathe if they had one?

 

Indian club. Exercise piece. Nothing to do with Indians.

Putting the pieces together prevents it from warping/cracking later.

 

Exercise pin!
I saw one in an old movie!

 

And now I know the right name for it. Thanks, Terry!
I was thinking BOWLING PIN... EXERCISE PIN...

 

Plus if they were turning them out by the thousands just think how much in wood cost they would save by glueing up the correct sized boards instead of one big solid wood blank.

 

meat tenderizer.....or husband tenderizer..................................

 

Thanks. Never heard of those before. Not finding the exact same shape but seems like there is quite of a variety.
http://www.izzybarish.com/TheIzIndianClubs.htm

 

And while the vast majority look like bowling pins....they ALL have knobs at the top.

Yours does not....hence it's the rarest of varieties .......or it's some other kind of club...

 

And are made of hardwoods - Alot of them are oak & maple.
Looks as this one is pine - some kind of woodshop project??

 

Indian club. Sold in pairs, normally, and in different weights. You swing them around and it's supposed to build up your upper-body/arm-strength. They were extremely popular back in the 1800s and early 1900s.

The Perrier soda-water bottles are modeled after them:

 

Well, the things I learn here!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks, Shangas!

 

...I thought everyone know this??

 

Not me!
And I wouldn't have known the exercise connection if I hadn't seen it in a 194os movie... can't recall which one.

 

6 pieces.......easier to get the lead in the middle.......

 

I LOVE the two carved ones on the IzIndians site behind the glass cube!!!!!!

 

Emailed Izy. Here's the reply:
"
Well it looks like an Indian Club though I have never seen one with a reverse tapered handle like this has.

I would be curious as to how it feels when swung. The pinky side of the hand is not as malleable as the thumb side and the circular forces would push the meat of the hand on the pinky side into it. I would feel it might be uncomfortable, but of course I could be totally wrong about that, not having swung them"

 

"Well it looks like an Indian Club though I have never seen one with a reverse tapered handle like this has."

If the guy sez he's never seen one like it .....& he's the go to guy............
Well then....the search is on for some other use for this club.

Fish Bonker....
Mini baseball bat...
????