Antique or Vintage Wood Box with light up Talk and Listen Panels | ||
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Posted 5 years ago
pinksparkl…
(2 items)
Unknown item which I think might be from the 1950’s possibly or earlier. It is a wood box and the front of it has two panels Talk and Listen.
There is an electrical wire on the back of the box. I opened up the box and there isn’t any identifying manufacturer. The housing unit for the lightbulbs looks old and it takes two tiny bulbs for each panel. I can’t wait to get this to operate and just wish that I knew what it was used for.
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Any ideas what this could be and what it was used for? Maybe radio broadcasting when the on air broadcaster would be interviewing someone and they were given the cue to talk when to talk and listen when to keep quiet?
that was my immediate guess as well. cool piece!
Thank you ho2cultcha! :)
The wire which shows in the pics looks exactly like old fashioned "double-cotton-covered doorbell wire" -- in other words suggesting this was a 'low voltage' lighted sign instead of anything that would have operated on 'wall current'. That wire also suggests the item might be actually a bit older than your 1950's guess, being more common in the immediately previous decades before 'plastic insulated' wire became more typical.
Any chance you could add one more pic showing at least some of the light bulbs/sockets/etc inside it, which might at least suggest which size of common battery you might first try to "light it up"...?? <beg> :-) :-) :-)
AnythingObscure, thank you for sharing your knowledge. :). I included a photo of the light bulbs from looking down into the wood box.
So many scenarios where this would be invaluable.
Thanks Miike! :)
Pinksparklehorse, if you unscrew and look very carefully at the brass bases of the lightbulbs themselves, you might get lucky and notice at least a 2-digit number stamped into its upper edge near the glass part, maybe even with a letter or two. If nothing there, look even closer on the glass bulb itself just over its base somewhere to maybe notice similar etched into the glass. These numbers/letters, if present, should help identify the correct operating voltage (guessing somewheres in the 6-24volt range?) if not actually what the whole sign assembly itself might have been intended for.
Also, that style of porcelain socket for the bulbs is, like the wire itself, suggestive of a pre-1950's age range for it. Thanks for giving us the extra pic -- I hope somebody else can come up with a clue what it really is -- what a very COOL SIGN anyways about it and THANKS for showing to us all!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)
AnythingObscure... Thank you for all the information you gave me. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge regarding this item. :)