“I found this while cleaning out an old cedar closet. Had a bendy spring in the middle. Looks like it hangs on a door?”
A: "I think it’s a vintage hat display stand. If you Google it, there are a lot that have the springy bit and the pull cord (it probably lets you pull the hat down and to the sides to examine it rather than touching the hat itself). Yours seems to be held by sliding onto a table edge rather than sitting on the table itself. So you’re holding it sideways."
Thanks Internet.
"... and the liquid will drop through the slit in the middle."
Let's keep it clean; this is not an AO site.