Vintage barber items. Any idea what this bottle was used for?

[BladeShark]

I bought a bulk lot of vintage and modern barber items. Most of the group was a pretty straight forward mix of shaving brushes and mugs (there was a brush in there I wanted). There was also this little tin-looking bottle that stands about 3.5 inches tall. When i unscrew it the cap seems to have a needle in it. Any idea what this would be used for? Some type of blood letting?

 

[bberg100]

My guess, purely a guess, is a needle oiler. Is there any smell to the inside of the can? Smell like oil, solvent, ??

 

[ackvil]

I've never seen anything like it.

 

[BladeShark]

I bet you're right. It does have a very faint smell that could be oil. Thanks. I was really stumped by that one.

 

[ackvil]

From Google

 

[BSAGuy]

Cool find. Shows the rest of the lot.

 

[BladeShark]

That was a good tip. With google I found that auction with a picture that is clearly the same item.

http://us.ebid.net/for-sale/antique-mini-needle-oiler-oil-can-patent-1909-135616166.htm#pic

Thanks to those pictures I took another look at mine and found it had three pieces, not two.

From Google

 

[BladeShark]

Here is the lot.



Towards the center of the middle row is the metal brush, the bottom half anyway, that I wanted. I recognized it as a Rubberset model 543. I like those little guys. This is from a 1929 ad for one:

Cool find. Shows the rest of the lot.

 

[Vintage Modern]

Here is the lot.

View attachment 571907

That's more than a lot!