Karen, while recently on vacation I came across an item that reminded me of your query.
I was at a store showing blown glass and my eye hit a display which I thought looked a lot like your yard sale purchase.
What I saw was a container which holds a Mezuzah...which is a Jewish scroll...
I looked it up on google and thought perhaps the scroll might be rolled and placed in the open end of your investment..
reading the google article further, it mentioned that most people think of the holder as the Mezuzah.......but the scroll is what is actually the Mezuzah.........
don't know what the holder is called but thought that this might just be what you happened upon while yard-saleing.
MaryJane