Can someone please identify this piece of equipment and what it was used for and is it reads Western Electric Tungar rectifier model # 1240798 made by general electric

Western Electric furnished battery power supply chargers for telephone companies.

Welcome to the forum.

More than you probably ever wanted to know about Tungar bulbs: http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/tungar.pdf 1240798 sounds like it might be more of a Western Electric or Graybar catalog number rather than a GE number.

It could be for a theatre-sound exciter lamp or speaker field supply.

Don't recall the number, but I have an old automotive battery charger that uses a Tungar rectifier. I'll try to remember to look at it tomorrow and see who made it.

Mine is labeled

Rectigon S-289418 W.E. & MCO USA

Just noticed it has a structural issue wit a loose component internally. Not sure how that happened, but oh well.

Rectigon was the Westinghouse trade-name for the device, General Electric used the trade-name Tungar for them.

Why would Western Electric choose a Tungar rectifier?

This was the pre-silicon/germanium era. Tungars could provide a wide amperage range
of cheap rectifiers. Simple to replace regularly. ( Bell switch men were in phone
exchanges continuously.)

Once my sister got me a Christmas job at a department store with PBX that used
Tungar rectifiers.

I fished an old one from the trash bin when I went to get a trolley load of stock
for the drug store department. And the 'floor walker' almost skinned me alive.

Your rectifier was made by Westinghouse, not Western Electric. (WE & MCo = Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company). It is a generic rectifier used in all sorts of different equipment.