Tool identification help

[THolmer]

Hello, my father in law picked this up at a garage sale. Just curious if anyone knows what it is.

 

[38 Sears Roebuck]

I'm going to say it could be a kerosene /oil can. Possibly used on the railroad.

 

[M-MAN]

Looks to me like the ones the State used to fill the iron firepots they used to use in highway construction and repair. This was before the battery lights came along.

 

[mtf]

It says Theamco corp On the lid. When you google that it pulls
up the glass oil bottle caps. So some type of petroleum
product.

I have a similar one, that the opening is centered and not
offset. Mom used to say her dad hauled milk in it.

Here is a picture of mine, it does have a larger opening. It is
only about 14 inches tall.

 

[130ROY]

Back in the day my parents used to separate the cream from the cows milk and the dairy would pick the cream in these smaller cans .

 

[caterpillar guy]

I believe the cream cans were more like miniature milk cans and had the lid centered. And I suppose in some different areas they could have had them offset like that too. Probably a lot of other uses over the years for cans like that. If it has a knock loose lid or one that screws on just one smaller twist to hold it I would guess the cream can. If it has an old seal to it on the lid or top of can then more than likely was used for something else.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

We have one similar to that. Has a screw on lid and a pouring lip. FIL called it a gasman's can.

 

[Mike Groom]

My dad used to call them coal oil cans, not sure what that was.

 

[DoubleO7]

(reply to post at 20:35:09 06/22/23)

color=red:66dead31e6]click: Bulk oil can[/color:66dead31e6][/url]

 

[Leroy]

Coal oil is kerosine, just earlier name. Heard that more when I was a kid than kerosine. And just about ready to turn 80.

 

[Leroy]

The cream cans were just like the milk cans except smaller in like 5 gallons instead of the 10 gallons like most milk cans but there were some 8 gallon milk cans For the smaller farmer that could not have 10 gallons of milk a day to ship. And it took a lot of good cows to get enough to fill that 5 gallon can every day. might have shiped a can every other day.

 

[Greenfrog]

Cream can. Carried it many time to the dairy. They dumped it, washed it out, and took it back home.

 

[hd6gtom]

Many years ago those were carried in the
side compartments of fuel delivery trucks.
This was before they put pumps on the
trucks. The driver's filled them up from
the tank wagon and carried them up a
ladder and poured the gasoline or kerosene
into the customers overhead fuel tank.
When I bought my farm fuel business in
1974 there were 3 of them in the shed.
The man I bought the fuel business from
told me he had carried them up his ladder
hundreds of times.