✅ SOLVED My son saw this on Ebay, and wants to know what it is?

[creskol]

He has a small collection of the "weird and unusual" and is thinking about bidding on this for this collection.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Vi...a=1&pg=2060778&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507

 

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[villagenut]

I am a long time electrician and i have never seen one of those. Not sure what the thing is but sure is neat. No patent info stamped?

 

[firemanphob]

Looks like transformer windings on the inside but have never seen one of those.

 

[Anduril]

Looks like transformer windings on the inside but have never seen one of those.

I agree. Sure looks like a transformer.
But if so, you don't seem to have the whole thing.

So... I'm going to go with chicken brooder.
(I pretty sure that guess is wrong, but until more info comes in.....)

 

[ToddsPoint]

Looks like a sending unit for oil pressure or some such. Gary

 

[No gold in NY]

The winding's must be creating some sort of electrical field. Perhaps an early neon light. Might be a keeper if you dug it up, but at $21 nah.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

My guess is that based on the standard light socket threads, it's the base of some type of antique lighting that's missing the filament.
Dave

"The first successful incandescent lamp was invented by Thomas A Edison on 19 October 1879. Before the beginning of the twentieth century there were several types of light emitting devices available for lighting the night, but they were too dangerous or used too much electricity to be useful for indoor lighting. These lights were the gas lamps, oil lamps and the arc lamps that were in existence at the time. Thomas Edison and other inventors at the time knew that an indoor light had to be small but at the same time be bright. Edison came up with the idea of passing an electric current through a thin high resistant wire or filament until it got hot enough to glow. At the same time, an Englishman named Sir Joseph Swan also had the same idea when Edison started working on the light bulbs. Edison was not the first to invent light bulbs, but he was the first to receive a patent for the incandescent bulb. Initially, the problem during the development of the incandescent bulb was the short life of the filament. It only glow for several hours until it eventually melted due to the air molecules trapped in the bulb and the low melting point of the material used for the filament."

 

[dozer dan]

Perhaps a heating element for an old incubator?

 

[Tony in SC]

Early electrical power units for houses were DC. That piece looks to be a magnet which could only be DC. The rest is missing, doesn't look cool enough for me to buy it.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

The color makes me think its a military item

 

[creskol]

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments. I have passed them all to my son. Just for the novelty of it, he plans to make an offer, but he didn't say how much. Thanks again for your help.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

A screw in replaceable D/C transformer?