Need help with artifact identification - military or not?

I wasn't sold on the idea that it was purely military in origin, but figured with the vast amount of knowledge on the forums, it never hurts to ask. Thanks for all the replies to date.

I prefer this type of unit to the current snap.

I remember we had some of these on older trucks like Dueces when I was in the Army, and they always worked fine....the snaps would fail or just come unsapped going down the road.

 

David

 

Ditto, it's an old fashioned tarp fastener, popular before they perfected the snap lock style you see today. Those were the days when a fastener like that kept most people out. The one you show is probably from the 1960s.

It is a fastener to attach a tarp to a vehicle.   I remember them from the neighbor's boat when I was growing up (not too far from College Park).  The canvas had a oval-shaped grommet through which the fastener is placed.  The rotating part of the fastener is then turned to catch the grommet and secure the canvas.   The two holes on either side are for wood screws to attach the fastener to the surface.  The fasteners were placed every 12 to 18 inches, on the boat they were around the coaming on the aft deck.   It kept the weather out of the cockpit and the honest people honest.  

I'll bet it is brass or bronze, perhaps with a chrome finish.   The chrome would pit and corrode in the salt of the Chesapeake but the brass/bronze would not

The item is probably not military.   It was probably on a  truck - to secure the tarp covering the bed; or on a boat  stored inside the perimeter of the airport fenceline.