He surprised me..

Well, first I surprised him. I drove up to Allentown today to find a replacement for the knife I lost. Seems I didn't mention to my friend G that I would be there. He seemed nicely surprised. I stopped back at his house to check and see if it was the weekend for Sat night knitting group up there (which it wasn't), and he surprised me with this:

(not the sink... it's just the only place in the house I can get a good picture at night... but the thing on the sink)

Closer look at the flowers on the end.

German or Pennsylvania Deitsch?

Opens up to hold your needles.  Actually came with a few sets of metal double points.  

Apparently, he got this at an auction.  There are no identifying marks on it anywhere except for the writing and the flowers.  One of the double points inside says "HERO 4 US"

So, anyone have any ideas?  Where it came from, when it came from?