Sounds like what you have is a type of modified bat used for games played indoors, typically in gyms or other large covered venues. These bats are typically more like softball bats, lighter and narrower than regular baseball bats. Indoor baseball would typically use a ball more like a softball---softer, usually larger and with less flight than a baseball.
Indoor baseball was often played by girls and women but there are numerous examples of military personnel playing indoor baseball in armories, airplane or dirigible hangars, etc, so that they could play either at night or in areas where outdoor games were impractical.
Indoor baseball was played as early as the 1880s and there are illustrations of such games from weekly magazines of the period.
I presume your bat is wooden, and I would guess it probably dates anywhere from the 1930s to 1950s.
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