It does look sort of non home made. Necessity is the mother of invention. So what was the necessity that no one else had? Could it be one of those gadgets that were sold in the Sears or Whitney catalogs? The snake oil variety. Search old Whitney catalogs.
The pipe is pretty far from the box. With air flow in between. Were folks convinced the heat would dry out the grease in the box? The same grease as in the wheel bearings. Grease can take some fairly high temps. Still a nice little novelty piece.
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. - William Penn
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