Charming Antique Walnut Pin Cushion tin cat toy engaged in similarly laborious tasks

engaged in similarly laborious tasks

and also flipped upside down

where I believe it has likely always lived as there is an inscription along one edge on back of the frame

" I might guess 1930s-40s or so

pencil and crayon on paper

Charming Antique Walnut Pin Cushion tin cat toy engaged in similarly laborious tasksAnother great old pin cushion and another example of putting readily accessible (free!) materials to practical use, in this case the shell of a walnut. Brown fabric (silk I believe, and I think two layers of it) with tightly packed stuffing inside (perhaps sawdust, it's a bit hard to tell), and with a red ribbon loop, which would make it easy to wear around one's neck when doing some sewing or mending. Definitely it was used, with plenty of pin pricks