Wondering if this pulley was a lineman's pulley. The pulley says "BELL SYSTEM" on it along with a "3" and a star. Also wondering approx. how old this pulley is.

The pulley is about 7" long.

ANSWER: This is part of a block and tackle set up for pulling line wires taut for splicing or proper sagging.  One would place a wire grip on each end of the broken wire and pull them together.  Something that could never be done by hand.  The wires could then be twist-spliced using a pair of the special splicing pliers, or a NICO splice placed and crushed with the Nicopress

Thanks to Brent Burger for the information