On Oct 29, 10:04?am, Omelet > wrote:
> Dad's been cleaning out the storage lately and this appeared one day.
> It's sitting on a cast iron trivet and I'm currently just using it as a
> stove decoration as it's kinda cute. Too small to be a tea kettle at
> only 6" across at the base.
>
> Any idea what it's used for?
>
> http://i24.tinypic.com/ehma91.jpg

It looks like an old tea kettle converted for use as a vaporizer...
electric vaporizers weren't marketed until about 1925, by KAZ.
Previously people created various methods for producing portable
steam, typically oil lamps were the heat source.