The Coolest Jewelry Box in the World

The think I love about "antiquing," or just going to see Milly Rose, is that you never know what you will find.  I almost always find something cool at Milly Rose's shop and it's always something I really "need"!

The other cool thing, to me, about this hobby is the rush you get when you find that thing, that thing that you didn't know you needed, you don't know what in the hell you're going to do with it, but you just have to have it.  It doesn't happen every trip, but when it does...well, it's really fun!

We went yesterday to Minden to visit Milly and do the Mardi Gras parade over there.  (I'll post more on that later today).  One of the first things I saw was this:

What in the world...?  I was drawn to the wood and the unusual shape of the thing.  I opened the lid on the top piece and the drawer:

Love!

It's an old cash register drawer!  That spindle you see in the top picture?  It worked in sync with an old adding machine.  When I got it home, I pulled the drawer out - there's a mechanism in there that makes the drawer pop open when prompted by the adding machine.  (There was also a dirt dauber nest in the top compartment!  Lagniappe!)

Here's one I found on ebay:

A little research led me to this history of the Dalton Adding Machine Company.

I brought the thing home, thinking I'd set it on this antique desk that I have, but really, what to do with it?

I'm thinking right now it's going to make a perfect jewelry box!  Line it with some velvet maybe.  Necklaces in the top and earrings and pins in the drawer, maybe.  Rings on the spindle?!

But just look at these worm holes:

Such character!

But I don't really need a cash register...I'm open to suggestions.  Anybody have a good idea to re-purpose this besides my jewelry box idea?  Otherwise, I think I just bought the coolest jewelry box ever.