What Is It? game 258

It's once again time for our collaboration with the wonderfully entertaining What Is It? Blog. Can you guess what the pictured item is? Or can you make up something interesting?

Place your guess in the comment section below. One guess per comment, please, though you can enter as many guesses as you'd like in separate comments. Post no URLs or weblinks, as doing so will forfeit your entry. Two winners: the first correct guess and the funniest (albeit ultimately wrong) guess will win T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Please write your T-shirt selection alongside your guess. If you don't include a selection, you forfeit the prize, see? May we suggest the Science T-Shirt, Funny T-Shirt and Artist-Designed T-Shirts?

See another picture of this item with a closeup view at the What Is It? Blog. Good luck!

Update: we have here a set of National Cash Register grocery store price stamps from the 1920s. The first with the correct answer was mowog, who wins a t-shirt from the NeatoShop! The funniest (yet wrong) answer came from moddycurl, who said, "This was the prototype for the 64 box of crayons, back when the world was all black and white." Yep, that wins a t-shirt, too! See the answers to all this week's What Is It? items at the What Is It? blog.