I recently bought at an auction a huge stand.

It has two large oak columns (four inch square, five and ahlf feet tall)
with a run of gear teeth up each one.

The base is cast metal with three wheels. Next to the frontmost wheel
is a threaded bolt that will keep the thing from rolling around.

A wooden platform (say about 18 inches by 36 inches) travels up and down
the columns by means of a gear and a large crank.

A plate on the sides read "Graflex Identification Unit" Any ideas?

Any insight you might give would be most appreciated and thanks for your
time and consideration.

Leo

First guess would be that is a stand for a Mug shot camera. Graflex made these using 4x5 flim and a sliding split back to allow front & profile views on one sheet of film. Once upon a time almost every police dept in the counrty had one.

Dennis