Sounds like a pump-type oil can. 


Sent from my iPhone

On Jan 10, 2011, at 6:03 PM, Sean Doyle <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I am currently working on some turn-of-the century homestead sites in northeast Colorado (USA) and have come across this confusing little item. I think it is the reservoir from an atomizer of some type, but I can't be sure and I wanted to pick the collective "Deep Thought" of the HISTARCH webspace. 
> 
> It is a cylindrical steel can that is 3" tall by 2 3/4 inches in diameter with externally overlapping stamped ends, a low profile threaded cone-like top. The closure, which is the unique bit, is a threaded steel cap with a rolled 1/2 diameter cylindrical steel tube that is set into the center and sheared off at the top. The cap has a reeded edge (like a US quarter) and an embossed, gothic script mark circumscribing the superior surface which reads "BLISH MIZE & SILLIMAN HDW Co. - ATCHISON - KAN."
> 
> Some things I do know is the lid embossing tracks to the Blish, Mize & Silliman Hardware stores of Atchison, Kansas and Western expedition outfitting fame; so, the item cannot predate 1871. A search through trademarks yielded but one mark, which was not this one. Also, the bulk of sites within the area can be solidly dated to 1875 - 1915. 
> 
> I am iffy on any aerosol can hypothesis simply because it has the look of a cone top, not the torpedo like form of the early Rotheim type cans.
> 
> Any help that is provided is greatly appreciated.
> 
> Sean M.A. Doyle 
> 
> Historic Resources Specialist
> 
> SWCA Environmental Consultants
> 
> Broomfield, CO. 80021