Salesman Sample Mechanical Armature with Large Brass Ratcheting Gears (Partial) braided silk mat 6 7/8" x 5 5/8"

6 7/8" x 5 5/8" x 1/2"

a souvenir from Coney Island circa 1950s

1950s or so I'd think

though its scale is exactly right

The top was covered with fabric

Salesman Sample Mechanical Armature with Large Brass Ratcheting Gears (Partial) braided silk mat 6 7/8" x 5 5/8"I'm guessing this was a salesman sample for an industrial strength clothes ringer dryer or something along those lines, as I've seem a few with a similar sort of standing armature holding a rotating dowel at center, most of those with a crank arm on the side. Here, though, are these quite large sawtooth brass gears, which operate via ratcheting, and make the most completely satisfying sound as they do. As the gears turn so does that center dowel,