✅ SOLVED odd house site find

[ResurrectedVirginia]

Not sure what this is at all. Looks to be aluminum. The end that is not open and smaller in diameter is thicker heavier and the inside is made of steel so it does stick to a magnet. For some reason it had to be weighted on this end or attracted to a magnet. It also looks like it something slide on to the smaller end and covered it. Any ideas?

 

[cudamark]

Axle nut for a kid's wagon?

 

[artemis moon]

is it threaded on the inside?

 

[Mud Hut]

Looks like the top to a cocktail shaker.

 

[cudamark]

That would be a pretty small cocktail shaker. If I'm seeing the scale right, it looks like the hole is 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter.

 

[Breezie]

I agree with Cuda, it looks like a axle push/snap cap that was used on the vintage pedal cars, tricycles,wagons, etc. The ones listed here on ebay are not vintage, but the idea is the same.
2 Chrome 5 16 7 16 Snap Caps Hub Rod Axle Bike Trike Part Tricycle Pedal Car | eBay


Breezie

 

[lockster99]

Almost two inches in dia...big axle nut/push cap.

 

[mope540]

I bet it started out as a salesman sample spittoon. I have one (that took forever to ID)....it too is weighted, measures approx 2 1/4" at the widest point, and stands 2" tall. Yours is missing the top section and the center section was pushed inward.
Here is a pic of one that is a little fancier...

 

[woot]

!!!!

 

[ResurrectedVirginia]

I highly doubt it is an axle cap. Its just not like one and the house site was area was pretty hilly. No place for a pedal car. It is not threaded on the inside. I didn't think about a cocktail shaker haha.

Mope540 WOW I think you nailed it. A spittoon that's pretty cool! I never would have guessed that and thanks for sharing. Ill have to go back and look for the top now haha. That's really cool. Do you know what they were used for? Just sampling food or something?

 

[cudamark]

I highly doubt it is an axle cap. Its just not like one and the house site was area was pretty hilly. No place for a pedal car. It is not threaded on the inside. I didn't think about a cocktail shaker haha.

Mope540 WOW I think you nailed it. A spittoon that's pretty cool! I never would have guessed that and thanks for sharing. Ill have to go back and look for the top now haha. That's really cool. Do you know what they were used for? Just sampling food or something?

Finding the exact application would take a bunch of research. Here's a couple of links to show what lockster99, Breezie, and I are talking about. Zoom in on one of the wheels. Pedal car or wagon......take your pick. I think it much more likely that it came from one of these than a spittoon sales sample. I mean, just how many of those things were made? maybe a few dozen? Pedal cars and wagons on the other hand were made in the hundreds of thousands....maybe millions.

Antique Vintage 1940's Red Flyer Childs Toy Metal Wagon with Silver Metal Whee

Vintage 2 Ton Swarthmore Pedal Tractor Chain Drive Ball Bearing Trac | eBay

 

[Breezie]

I highly doubt it is an axle cap. Its just not like one and the house site was area was pretty hilly. No place for a pedal car. It is not threaded on the inside. I didn't think about a cocktail shaker haha.

Mope540 WOW I think you nailed it. A spittoon that's pretty cool! I never would have guessed that and thanks for sharing. Ill have to go back and look for the top now haha. That's really cool. Do you know what they were used for? Just sampling food or something?[/QUOTE]

Salesman's Samples were 'samples' used by salesmen to show store owners a product in hopes of selling it. Salesman's Samples were miniature versions of the larger actual item. For example: A salesman representing a wood stove company, would have a hard time transporting a 500 pound cast iron wood stove from merchant to merchant, thus the 'Salesman's Sample' was invented. The miniature versions were often exact replicas of the larger originals. As far as cuspidor spittoons were concerned, there were as Cuda said, very few made. Why? Spittoons were small enough objects to show the merchant the actual product. Below is a pic of a Salesman's Sample wood stove.

I'm not saying your item is NOT a spittoon sample, nor am I saying I know for a fact it is an axle push cap, but when ID-ing unknowns, I generally lean toward the common vs. the rare. I hope it is a rare salesman sample, but it will take research to confirm. Is is marked anywhere?

Also, I wanted to add, the axle push caps were not threaded, hence 'push caps,' and were heavier on one end since it had to be hammered/tapped onto the axle. Just this past Christmas, we bought a tricycle for my grandson, and the axle caps were 'push type' and had to be tapped with a hammer to put in place.


Breezie

 

[ResurrectedVirginia]

Those are all good points that you have brought up. I was jumping the gun...got excited haha. I'll take another look at it. I did not consider that the one side needed to be hit with a hammer. There are no markings or numbers on it.

 

[mope540]

Good luck finding a wagon with 3/4" axles and push caps that are made of two pieces of thin aluminum that will easily separate

 

[mope540]

Finding the exact application would take a bunch of research. Here's a couple of links to show what lockster99, Breezie, and I are talking about. Zoom in on one of the wheels. Pedal car or wagon......take your pick. I think it much more likely that it came from one of these than a spittoon sales sample. I mean, just how many of those things were made? maybe a few dozen?

Rare??...maybe uncommon. Here are two in the same auction..dirt cheap..and they didn't sell.

2 Small Vintage Salesman Sample Metal Spittoon'S Spittoon 2" Tall | eBay

 

[woot]

I'm sorry but they do not look like the pictures in that eBay auction.

 

[Breezie]

After some more research, I have uncovered some more information.
#1 The 'salesman's sample' spittoon is a toothpick holder. Vintage Aluminum Individual Spittoon Pat&apos July 30 1901 Top Rim Turns | eBay

After doing some patent searches, I saw 'individual personal spittoon' that were small enough to go in one's pocket, but the ones I saw all had lids to prevent spillage. I didn't see any made of aluminum.

I'm not sure if RV's item is part of a spittoon toothpick holder or part of an axle push cap since the shapes are so similar.

Mope: There are aluminum push caps as well as plastic ones. This is the first page that came up after doing a quick search for alumnium push caps;there were many more on Google. Push-On Cap Nut Fasteners - Bolt Products, Inc.

Also, I might add, to those who don't know me or don't follow my What Is It post, everything I post is for information to help the person ID their item. It's not about me being right or someone else being wrong or vice versa, it's about helping. Sometimes there are items that never can be ID-ed correctly. It's good to remember that not everything you see titled or ID-ed on Ebay and other sites are correct. Many of these sellers have no idea what they have, and title an idea what they 'think' it is.


Breezie

 

[cudamark]

My purpose is the same as Breezie's. Even if I don't know exactly what something is, I'll try to narrow down the possibilities if I can. In looking at the spittoons and their relative size, they just seem a bit too big to be related to the OP's item. If those spittoons on e-bay are truly 2" tall, they're about 2" wide too. That would make the center hole over 1". Now there may be other sample spittoons that are smaller but until I see one, I'm skeptical.