Unusual and Beautiful Old Handmade Ruler (?) animal blocks I'd guess made with the

I'd guess made with the idea of serving as a flask of sorts--literally to hold four fingers of whiskey

The sails are gone

How it got from Germany

Originally a Halloween noisemaker

Unusual and Beautiful Old Handmade Ruler (?) animal blocks I'd guess made with theI really don't know anything about this one, but found it at Brimfield and couldn't put it down. I presume a ruler or guide of some sort, with the increments along one side approximately one inch and the shorter ones about half an inch. For me the angled lines really make it. lending a sense of movement and three dimensionality to the whole thing, and the wood, which I think may be boxwood, is lovely. With what looks to be some faint handwritten text