Was it basically a waffle machine? As far as I can recall it made little cake donuts, not waffle-like in texture or consistency at all, so I’m not sure a waffle maker would cook at the right temperature…but if someone knows different please speak up.
edited to add: And with four days left to go the one for auction is already up to $516(plus $38 shipping and handling)-this thing is both rare and wanted, it seems.
We had something similar when I was growing up, except it made 4 round doughnuts at a time. It was probably manufactured in the late 1970s by one of the major small-appliance makers (Rival, Hamilton Beach, Sunbeam, etc.). I recall they tasted pretty good, but not quite donut-shop good. It would be interesting to try the Brown Bobby recipes in something like that, but I no longer have the machine. I don’t see anything exactly like it on eBay, but there are a lot of similar items if you search eBay for “vintage electric donut maker”.
The Wikipedia link said it ran at 600 watts for cooking. According to the links I checked out, most waffle irons run 900-1200 watts. That isn’t surprising given what I assume is the difference in thickness, amount, and texture of the final product.
I don’t think a standard waffle iron would do what you want.
Now I want one of these…
The farm market near me sells fresh made donuts every morning. Their donut maker is not something you’d want in your kitchen, though. It has a conveyor-belt that takes the donuts through hot oil and takes up a fair amount of space.
This is making me think of a mini doughnut maker that someine used to have at a local flea market. Around the size of a 10 gallon aquarium (and enclosed in glass like one) it would drop doughnut batter into a small vat of oil, lift them onto a conveyor belt when done, and deposit them in a hopper at the end. The owner then sold the doughnuts (sprinkled with cinnamon sugar) in little paper sleeves like french fries come it (maybe it was a half dozen to a sleeve.) Google images brings up a suprising variety of mini doughnut makers, but none quite match my memory.
FWIW, this is a more home-friendly design of mini maker that I discovered. Around 10 times cheaper than commercial units
6 is a triangle number. 
12 (the number a double machine in the link makes) isn’t. 
The Universe would work so much better if people kept to Mathematical themes.
No it wouldn’t. A car would have three wheels and airplanes would have one wing, which frankly isn’t much of a triangle in either case.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me why the shipping and handling on this e-Bay auction has been fluctuating wildly between $19 and $39(currently at $27)?
Most airplanes do have only one wing, although a few biplanes still fly.
Shipping is based on your zip code. Are you viewing the page from devices with different zip codes? (just a guess)
No-all the same computer.
edited to add: Can different people get different prices on the bidding page itself?
Huh. Same browser as well? I’ve had different browsers believe me to be in different (though close) locations. Are you viewing the page incognito? 
Same computer, same browser, incognito mode. Why would that cause the deviations?
Price seems to be up a bit, too. $516 is a lot!
I think he was suggesting that not being in incognito mode could explain the deviations.
Could shipping be based on purchase price? As the bids go up the shipping goes up?
It’s been going up and down, sometimes saying “shipping and handling” and sometimes saying “shipping”.
I wonder if the owner is trying to adjust it to influence bidders.
Edited to add: I switch between incognito and normal mode-no difference.
It is now at $556, with $38.76 shipping.
Very weird.
If you think that’s weird, take a look at the bidding history.
Why should the number of wheels on a car be a triangle number???