Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |
Subject: Dead Media Working Note 03.1
Dead Media: Toy telegraphy; toy telephony
Source: Peck and Snyder's Catalog (aka "Price List of
Out & Indoor Sports and Pastimes") 1886, reprinted 1971
by Pyne Press (LC# 75-24886, ISBN 0-87861-094-4)
Peck and Snyder offered toy versions of the major electrical media
of 1886 -- toys clearly aimed at the children's market, but also available
in workable adult versions for the hobbyist or experimenter. A later epoch
might have called these devices "personal telegraphy" and "personal
telephony."
It is well to let the Peck and Snyder copywriters speak for
themselves. My comments in (((triple parens))).
THE BLISS TELEPHONE.
CHEAP ENOUGH FOR A TOY AND GOOD ENOUGH FOR PRACTICAL USE.
This simple little instrument is sure to meet a general want in supplying
the place of Speaking Tubes and Electric Bells at less than one quarter of
the cost. While it may safely be warranted to work a mile, its principal
recommendation lies in the readiness with which it may be put to
practical use in connecting separate rooms in the same or adjoining
buildings, such as Manufactories, Shops, Stores, Dwellings, Offices, &c.,
&c.
It has been thoroughly tested and its satisfactory working, together
with the low price at which it is offered, must insure its general use.
Complete directions for setting up, also 100 feet of composition
wire accompany each Telephone. Additional wire will be furnished by us
at the rate of twenty five cents per hundred feet. Price complete, $1.00.
(((To judge by the illustration, this "Telephone" was simplicity itself. At
each end of the wire, a single diaphragm unit, apparently about the size
and shape of a hockey puck, served as both speaker and microphone. There
was no off switch, no way to hang up, no switchboard and no central
office. The Bliss Telephone was simply a permanently open telephone line
between two devices at two different locales, the electric equivalent of a
speaking tube. There is no indication of the power source for this
device.)))
THE POCKET TELEGRAPH.
No battery, acid, or wire needed for operating this little wonder. With
this little instrument any person can learn the art of Telegraphing, and
messages may be sent and received after a few hours' practice. The
instrument, blued steel, with Morse's Alphabet and full instructions, will
be mailed. Blued steel, 25 cents. Nickel plated, 50 cents.
(((This cheap and utterly simple pocket device simply makes metallic
clicking noises that mimic the sound of a telegraph key. The nickeled
version, however, might have been quite the status item for the
technically inclined boy genius of the period. One imagines two friends
mystifying adults in class and church with cricketlike clicks of Morse
code from a hidden hand in the pocket.)))
INSTRUCTIVE AND AMUSING.
MINIATURE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.
This Telegraph consists of a sending and a receiving instrument, a spool of
wire for connecting them together, and the elements of a galvanic battery
for working them, the whole contained in a box with directions. The term
is that known as the single needle instrument, and is used with the
ordinary Morse Alphabet, which is composed of dots and dashes. A
movement of the needle, on the dial, to the right indicates a dot, and a
movement to the left a dash. It is very simple, and easily arranged, and
any child can understand and operate it. Price each. $1.50, $2.50, $5.00
(((Oddly, the accompanying illustration shows a needle dial on an upright
board, with a double circular rim displaying all the letters of the
alphabet, the numerals zero through nine, and their Morse equivalents. The
ad copy, however, states that the needle moves only to the right and left,
rather than indicating specific letters on the dial. This "term" looks
wonderfully impressive, but apparently it was mere window-dressing. It
appears to be French, as it bears the word DE'POSE on the face of the dial.
Perhaps these fancy terminals were left over from some failed earlier
version of telegraphy.)))
THE ECLIPSE TELEGRAPH.
PRICE $4.00
OUR NEW TELEGRAPH OUTFIT. The only low priced instrument that is made
entirely of BRASS, all others are merely cast-iron painted or japanned
black. This outfit consists of a full-size Morse Key and Sounder, a cell of
Gravity battery, a package of Blue Vitriol, a coil of insulated office wire,
and instructions for learners, the whole forming a complete FIRST-CLASS
outfit for learners, home practice, or for short-line service. The key is of
the latest approved style, with long curved lever, and switch circuit
closer.
The Sounder has rubber headed magnets, and perfect adjustments.
Both Key and Sounder are made entirely of brass, finished and lacquered,
and are mounted on a polished mahogany base.
The whole outfit, complete with battery and 50 feet of insulated wire, is
carefully packed in a light wood box for shipping .... By express, $4.00
The Telegraph complete, except battery ... By mail, 3.75
Prices of extra parts and fixtures of the Eclipse Telegraph Lightning
Arrester .... each, 0.75
(((A later century would definitely have devoted more attention to the
surge protector and the prospect of electrocution.)))
Battery... 0.50
Insulated wire, per 100 feet, 50 cents; extra zinc .... 0.25
Persons when buying the outfit, without Battery, can use any ordinary
tumbler. (((If, that is, the person buying the outfit doesn't mind having an
open tumbler of Blue Vitriol battery acid in his home. Let's hope the
children are snug in their beds this Christmas.)))
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |