Hard to tell without knowing the dimensions of the box but that looks like a battery compartment on the one end with clips to hold a couple of "D" cells perhaps? Also, is that an indicating lamp next to the toggle switch? The stand-offs are there to keep the box mounted away from either a source of heat or cold, I'm guessing. Is there any indication of what the batteries would have been hooked up to? Perhaps an element or fan? This is totally grasping at straws, of course, but could this have been a storage box for welding rods?
It's as good a guess as any.
CHEEMO! Derek.
