Might be. Or for cleaning legs and such of other animals. How stiff are the bristles?

tj

Perhaps I am just unclear about the size of the pouch, but isn't that just a match box holder to be hung by the fireplace or old wood or gas range; and the strange brush was just crammed in it.

It looks like a matchbox, but it's actually a leather container. Might not be a called a "pouch".... but the brushes definitely go with it.

I think it may be a repurposed container. No dimensions are given but a neighbor had a box like that which was used for matches. Where that light area on the front is was a pad of sandpaper. Of course few used the sandpaper because the pressure of striking a match soon knocked it off. Not all matchboxes were made of metal.

The matches must have been huge then because the pouch part is almost as tall as the comic book underneath it is wide.

Older boxes of matches were larger than they are now. The box fit so that a large man could put his fingers along side of it to lift it out. Matches were often hand dipped so the heads were generally larger. Hitting a metal object could easily cause them to flare.

Edited to add that some old men's grooming kits had cases similar to this.

Well, I can't speak for Australia, but in the USA, standard large match boxes are currently (and I believe always) 4&3.4 X 2&5/8 X 1&1/2 inches. I hadn't realized that was a comic book but the size still appears to be perfect for the regular match box. I just measured my box of matches that is probably 5 years old. It appears to be exactly what I remember from the 1950s. If your pouch's inner measurements are just slightly bigger than the dimensions above (length should be shorter I suppose), then again it is a match holder.

I agree....to hang on the wall near a wood burning or coal stove to hold matches....the brush is for something else....and a picture of the whole brush might yield more info.

Well...brushes clean stuff off other stuff....and clearly whoever made this wanted to use his or her time wisely ;)

Whatever was being cleaned (or buffed) was probably some kind of rod?? Or something flat but thin...wheel spokes for example.

I imagine someone inventive cobbled this together for their own purposes...

Interesting find though!

Well, the box may be repurposed, but it has held that brush for a while. The wear marks on the inside of the box match the wooden part of the brushes.

tj

I believe the box was repurposed.

Thanks to all!

I wonder if the brush could have been used to dust off horizontal blinds. My grandmother had horizontal blinds that were metal, this was in at least 1959, she called them Venetian blinds They were about 2 inches wide. The blinds where white and had a cloth that held them together.