Curious Brass Tag ?

[mojjax]

it says Time Check 1912 American

 

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[ANTIQUARIAN]

Beautiful find, nice that it retains the original paint inside the stamped letters.
Possibly something to do with mining or the shipping industry.

A bit of background information of where and how it was found would help as well.

Dave

 

[mojjax]

I found it in a big can of keys ....from the free table .... at the town dump . 6 pounds of keys & 1 padlock -lol

 

[Hawks88]

Nice find. Congrats. Looks like it may have been a railroad baggage tag to me.

 

[Reanm8er]

Greetings Mojjax, Are you familiar with the concept of the "night watchman". The night watchman kept watch in or around a building or factory. He walked a route, station to station that required him to trigger a time stamp at each station. He had his own dedicated key that fit one of several holes in the timeclock. As he walked his route he left a record of being there by activating the timeclock with his key. This was likely a fob that went with his key which might be the one under the "Makin Bacon" fob. That key may not be unique enough because they were so complex that no one could have copied it readily.

Best wishes!

 

[Mackaydon]

Similar to what 'Reanm8er' said, back in the day......railroad 'bulls' (police) would walk a prescribed route at night to deter 'hobos' from jumping on the trains in the yard. At certain intervals they would 'clock in' (turn the key) to show where they were and at what time (no sleeping on that job).
Don........

 

[Rum Tide]

Key tag for a early 20th Century time travel machine.

 

[Anduril]

If you have enough time on your hands, you could take a file to all those keys and make a bucket of bump-keys, then sell them on eBay.

 

[trdking]

Makin Bacon HaHa that brings the 70's screaming back. I agree this is a tag for or a key fob for a night watchman

 

[Reanm8er]

Yeah, Makin Bacon, Fly United and Keep On Truckin.

 

[trdking]

Yeah, Makin Bacon, Fly United and Keep On Truckin.

And don't forget "Save A Tree...."

 

[Anduril]

There is some text just above the hole.
Can't quite make out what it says.... ?

 

[devldog]

That is a cool looking brass tag and Thanks to some knowledgeable folks you already have an I'D on it. Congrats.

 

[Reanm8er]

Dine on a Marmot, perhaps Trdking?

 

[trdking]

Dine on a Marmot, perhaps Trdking?

I am IN

 

[mojjax]

The text above the hole says - AM.RY.S,CO.NEW YORK

 

[mojjax]

I think it stands for [h=2]American Railway Supply Co.[/h]

 

[cw0909]

i think its is a Railroad Tool Time Check Tag
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1...ziAhVPXKwKHTpVACcQsAR6BAgJEAE&biw=911&bih=443

info on the co.

Designed in 1911 for William H. Woolverton, president of American Railway Supply Co., the building’s earliest products were brass baggage checks, lapel tags and badges for the booming US railroad industry.
American Railway Supply Building



​

 

[cw0909]

strike that about the tool check, this site says it is a time check called
brassing in and brassing out,by hanging the check with employee #,
so the timekeeper knows when employee worked

Q215 Time checks Can you tell me how time checks were used?
Question & Answer Board: Railroadiana Online Website

edit
not sure why link dosent take you to the Q pg.
in the search box in tab By word or phrase...** i put, time check
took a screen shot of answers

 

[Mackaydon]

[SIZE=+2][FONT=&quot]T[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+0][FONT=&quot]he[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+2][FONT=&quot]A[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+0][FONT=&quot]merican[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+2][FONT=&quot]R[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+0][FONT=&quot]ailway[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+2][FONT=&quot]S[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+0][FONT=&quot]upply[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+2][FONT=&quot]C[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=+0][FONT=&quot]ompany was founded in New York in 1891 and lasted well into the 1920s.
There's your timeframe.
Don....[/FONT][/SIZE]