Anyone know what this is?

My stepfather found this, uh, thing in their basement.  It seems to be a stand of some sort, and it turns very smoothly.

The other, uh, thing pointing at it is some sort of utensil dog(?) that had the "What's this?" sign in the holder when my Mom and John bought it.  It moves around the house pointing at things that defy description.

Getting back to the stand, there are no markings on it to give a hint about the company that made it or what it's for.  There are rubbery things on the feet and on the ends of the spiral, presumably to protect the table and..... yeah, I don't know what else would be protected.

The handle on the top is what turns the spiral.

Here's another picture next to a ruler so you can see it a bit clearer and get an idea of the size:

Let me explain my parents' basement (and attic, house, garage, shed....).  Near as I understand, John's mother and her second husband moved into HIS mother's house, with her belongs in it.  They moved about two households' worth of stuff into the house.  Time passed, none of the stuff was moved out, and the house was left to John and Mom after Grandpa and Grandma passed.  They moved in with all of their stuff.  We like to joke that Jimmy Hoffa is probably in their basement.  I actually have some of my stuff still in their attic from my move to Wisconsin, but we're moving it here a few boxes at a time.  I have a lot of books.

Slowly over time they have been trying organize and get rid of superfluous items by donating, dumping, and selling on eBay.  John's seller ID is 3gensofstuff.  Right now he's selling a telegraph key, a tabletop planter with light, a cast iron Asian lion incense burner, and a few other things.

Anyway, back to this stand.  John thought I might be able to use it as an earring holder.  Well, the earring cards don't fit on the spiral, and we think that individual earrings might slide down.

I will do something with it, but we'd love to know what it was originally for.  Anyone have any ideas?  Let your imagination run wild and post a comment!