The brush is a pinstriping brush. It is a unique purpose brush and has no other use as far as I know.

The scissors may have wax if Grandfather waxed his mustache and then trimmed it.

Well, I see a set of cufflinks and studs...tells me he wore a formal shirt at least once or twice.
I see either a cigarrette holder or a coin purse...can't see the picture well enough to tell.
I have a brush like that and it was used for brushing dry color onto a stencil.
I don't know what the green "C" is...likely some organization's ID...but I don't know what.
No idea about the cow boy hat...does it have any marking?
The brass tags with 513 likely were a key tag from where he worked.
Are those rocks in the upper part oif the last picture?
As for the scissors...maybe theyw ere last use to trim thew ich on a candle?
What are those 2 medals with the bale handle?
It's hard to zero in on something without a better picture.
Linda C

I don't think they're cowboy hats. They're pins. They're more like a roughrider hat that the cavalry wore. I thought they might be part of a uniform. The other metal pins and tags say S.&.W.E.C. and M.R.E.P. CO.
Those are white rocks of some sort - with sparkly gray running through them.
I don't know if that's a ladies purse or some sort of ditty bag for men. The coin purse is double clasped. The center leather piece is missing from the frame, but I can see where it was stitched at one time so that it was a shallow coin purse one side and a longer one on the other. It's about 6" long. The paint brush is as soft as baby hair and doesn't look like it's been used. The red tip on the end looks like it was put there for a reason -- dunno.
Those other metal things (I forget what they're called) are like victorian souvenir advertisements. One says "Dog On" Good Whiskey (there's more writing on the back -from Kentucky; the other is from the Alaska -Yukon - Pacific Exposition - Seattle 1909. Thanks for your input.

The hats remind me of "all the way with LBJ!" so perhaps political memorabilia. Johnson's campaign was symbolized by a cowboy hat.
Casey

What an interesting little collections of things I'd guess had personal memories to the collector. I am wondering if you know anything of your G'father or perhaps your great grandfather's past?

Those pins, no I do not think they're military at all, and I'm saying this as I am a military brat and have seen various collections over a life time. I have also worked in factories, however, and I'm guessing several of them, with the company initials are/were worn as identification pins. The little ones with the holes to hang? Well, I remember we used tags like that for tools in our tool cribs to mark who took what from the equipment where there was an empty hole so we'd know who to get them back from who borrowed them. It's a guess, anyway.

Do you know if any of your relatives ever lived in the west? Was a miner? Done any genealogy? I'd lay you money there's lifetime's story in that little collection, typical of what an old man might keep as momentoes.

calliope,
I know almost nothing of my grandfather. My father never spoke of him (my grandparents were divorced when my father was about 2 years, which I think was almost unheard of back then). Dad and his father stayed in touch, but it wasn't a loving relationship and dad never spoke of my grandfather. I know nothing of my great grandfather. My sister is the family historian -- I'm going to pressure her for more information. My family was all over the West. My father was a cabinet maker for 60 years in the Pacific Northwest. His father was a carpenter and built banks, hotels, etc. My great grandfather -- I'll have to get to my sister about that.
Thank you so much. I wonder what kind of work and at what age he might have been when these pins and tags were important to him. I still wonder about the roughrider-like hat pins and the oriental coin with the worn down edge. Was it my grandfather or great grandfather, and why did someone put these things in a bag and why couldn't anyone else discard them?

The brass items with the initials do look like they went with keys or locks (esp. the one that's labeled Tools). There was a coffee company called Sussman, Wormser & Co., Coffee Roasters with operations in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York.

The Chinese coin might not be all that old.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chinese coins

I see a die (single form of dice) and wonder if it brought him luck.

Justlinda, If it did bring luck, it wasn't in the form of family fortune, I can assure you!! Nor family connections. But why one die?
Maybe there's a pattern here. One die, 1 cufflink and one matching button. Maybe he threw one of everything with a missing mate into the bag? But, I really want to know more about the roughrider-like hat pins and what the letters and numbers mean on the brass pieces. I really think the oriental coin is as old, probably older, than the rest of the things, and is a cohesive part of the puzzel, as is the brush. I'm hoping someone can add even more insight. Thank you all for your thoughts and input.

Linda, it's definitely a striping brush. See the link. I used to work for a sign shop and striping business in my twenties. I've seen lots of these. The bristles are long and soft and fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Similar brushes.