Cool little do-what'sit , josh2086 .
It sure would be nice to know what the water temp would hit , when fully electrified .....
1909 was the year 'instant' coffee hit the market in the U.S. .......
As KC mentioned , many types (some quite odd) of small electric appliances were being 'marketed' many for the 'traveling crowd' (such as sales , theatre folk & dust-bowlers - to name a few) who'd travel to/through destinations where electric power was available .
One could find table-top washing machines , hot plates , folding irons , coffee pots , curling irons , fans & all manner of sucessful & & failed devices ... not so much unlike today . Perhaps yours may be a tip-top-o'-the-science-o'-the-day 'hobo heater' (for boiling water in a container) ?
Having the patent #'s would be a good shot @ finding out more (like - what the heck did they call this thing?) .... maybe old GE has got a company historian kicking around that may know more ... I got nowhere certain with some amount of web-huntin' .
From the look of the inner surface of the item , I'd guess that something was regularly whacking the rim ... such as spoons , safety razors & maybe a ceramic-handled horsehair brush , etc .
As many of the living know , using such ungrounded appliances (which are somehow involved with water) has sometimes resulted in a smaller version of 'Old Sparky' to uninitiated users of such .
Sometimes the wiring was wrapped in quite high-quality silk & would remain durable for many decades ... other units were made with asbestos & other fiberous cloth/mat'ls which are rather banned items now-a-days ... old & crisp wiring should be replaced , should you find any , IMO , in the event you'd wish to use &/or sell your cool little item !
