New Guy With An Old Banjo

Hello,

New guy here, first post.

I'm a guitarist/vocalist who played professionally up until the late 90s. So whenever a family member comes across anything musical instrument related, they always think of me. Usually this results in me smiling and thanking them for some worthless junk that I have to store or find a way to dispose of without their knowing. But that wasn't the case when my wife's cousin approached me at my mother in law's birthday party and said, " I have a banjo for ya". He handed me a four string which I recognized as a tenor banjo, but that's as much as I knew about it. The head stock and inlay were so dirty and nicotine covered that until I cleaned it with some Gibson guitar polish, the quality was obscured. It didn't take much research to realize I had something pretty special. Outside of some issues with the finish on the back, this instrument looks to me to be in really nice condition.

In my research I learned that it was common for these to have a neck break and repair. This one never has. The frets look almost like new, as does the back of the neck and the fret board.

Now here's something a little bizarre. I noticed a  pig-tail with a small round  two prong plug coming out between the resonator and back. I assumed there was a pick-up installed. When I figured out how to separate the back and the resonator, I was astonished at what I saw!

Two OLD lights mounted and wired with old cloth covered cord. I can only surmise that this instrument was part of a prop or display. I would love to hear from anyone who can shed some light, (pardon the pun) on this apparatus. At this point I'm really wanting to have it serviced so I can start learning to play it. The nickel is in really excellent condition, and I'm willing to polish it all out. I just don't want to make any blunders on disassembly/reassembly, or do anything that might hurt the value of this 90+ year old beauty. Thanks in advance for your help and comments.