— Charles Page Reciprocating Electro-Magnetic Engine of 1838. Sold!
At that time (1830's and 1840's) it was still open whether Electromagnetic motors should be rotating or reciprocating machines, i.e. simulate a plunger rod of a steam engine.
While Davenport's motor was resembling a rotating design,
Pages motor was based on the plunger type, resembling a steam egine by which
Page replaced the piston generating the force transmitted to the flywheel by a
beam with four electric magnets.
This working demonstration model was crafted by Daniel Davis Jr., sometime after July 1838 and was mentioned in Benjamin Silliman's American Journal of Science, vol. XXXV, 1838, page 264; the oldest Scientific Journal in the United States, founded in 1818.
It is estimated that less than five of these models have survived and are only to be found in museums or major private collections. read more>>
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— Rare Illuminated Pathe Westminster Cone Speaker & Radio. Sold!
This Pathe radio is exceedingly rare.
However, while not so rare but still difficult to find, the Pathe Westminster cone loudspeaker is stunning.
Pathe manufactured this loudspeaker in two versions; illuminated and not illuminated. This is the illuminated version which has two little light bulbs, a red and a yellow one, which are powered by 110 Volt AC. If operated in a dark room, this speaker is truly a stunning display.
The three dial TRF radio is what a radio in the mid twenties was made of. The radio uses five typical 01A vacuum tubes which are included.
Unlike most of the cone loudspeakers from the mid to late twenties, the Pathe Cathedral loudspeaker is protected by a patent issued on July 2, 1918, with the number 1,271,527.
This patent was issued to M.C. Hopkins for, what he called, a “SOUND REGENERATING MACHINE.” utilizing a “tympanum,”
read more>>
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— Walker’s Pocket Camera; The First Pocket Camera. Sold!
Walker’s Pocket Camera was the first pocket camera on the market. William H. Walker received a patent on June 6, 1882 for his pocket camera which still used glass dry-plates which were heavy. Even so the camera was very light, the intended use for the camera was unpractical as the glass plates were heavy. Intended for travelers, double holders with dry-plates for 100 photograpahs weighed about 50lb, less than dry-plates for larger plates but still too much to carry around on trips.
The Walker pocket camera had a format of 2¾ by 3¼ still lighter than larger formats like 5 by 7, 6½ by 8½ and 8 by 10 inches.
The Walker Pocket Camera was a failure, hence, there are only five extant.
Walker was mechanically inclined as he was by training a mechanical engineer. He eventually sold his company and teamed up with Eastman. Together they launched the KODAK point-and-shoot camera six years later which brought the sought success. Walker invented the roll-film-back and Eastman the paper film. The KODAK, which sold for $25 in 1888, made the two world famous and wealthy, read more>>
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—The finest figural Sewing Machine; the “Lady” or “Cora Munro” Sold!
Grace Roger Cooper´s claim that this machine was actually manufactured despite the fact that no machine had ever been found is now confirmed. In her book, former curator of the Textile Division of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, made this claim based on her observation that two different inventors, independent from each other, used this attractive machine as model for their application for a patent for an improved feeding mechanism.
One of the inventors was George Hensel of New York City for which patent 24,737 was issued on July 12, 1859. Since Hensel´s patent application was for an improvement in the feed, there was no need to put a highly decorative head unless such a machine was commercially available. The patent specifications merely state that the head is “ornamented.”
Sidney Parker of Sing Sing, New York, also used a “Lady” or “Cora Munro” head and was issued patent number 24,780, on the same date as the Hensel patent. Parker´s patent also covered an improved feeding mechanism.
The design of this machine is based on a character in James Fenimore Cooper´s Last of the Mohicans, called “Cora Munro,” read more>>
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— Charles Lane Poor Line of Position Computer. Sold!
This exceedingly rare navigation instrument is called “Line of Position Computer,” and is essentially a mechanical navigator or circular slide rule for determining one's location, either from morning or afternoon sightings for longitude or from the St. Hilaire method of finding the line of position.
Despite the extensive references in the literature, Poor´s Line of Position Computer was not a commercial success and only very
few examples are known to exist, “[t]he scarcity of surviving examples suggests the government and general public had little interest
in the instrument. Indeed, aviators preferred inspection tables over slide rules for navigation,”
The National Museum of American History.
Charles Lane Poor (January 18, 1866 — September 27, 1951) was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of Edward Erie Poor. He graduated from the City College of New York and received a Ph.D. in 1892 from Johns Hopkins University. Poor became an American astronomer and professor of celestial mechanics at Columbia University from 1903 to 1944, when he was named Professor Emeritus. He published several books on astronomy and a monograph disputing the evidence for Einstein´s theory of relativity in the pre-war years before the theory became firmly established. Poor published a series of papers that reflect his lack of understanding for the theory of relativity, read more>>
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—Very Early Leclanche Battery Sold!
French Scientist Georges Lionel Leclanché is considered the inventor of the dry-cell battery, the battery which for decades powered portable electric powered gadgets from flashlights to radios to GPS.
Leclanche's original battery he patented in 1866 and perfected with his second patent of 1867 is probably the most important invention when it comes to batteries. While the battery initially was not suitable for high constant currents, it was cheap to manufacture and lasted a long time.
First it was extensively used for telegraphy, later for telephones and all kinds of bells. Telephone conversations became inaudible if they lasted to long. While the Telephone was not used, the battery would always recover and lasted a long time or till the zinc rod or carbon pile was used up and new electrodes needed to be fitted inside the glass jar.
Georges Leclanché never lived to see the battery market really take off, unfortunately he died of cancer in 1882. read more>>
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—The only Sextuple Safe-Time-Lock extant. Sold!
Only 13 were ever built, none were believed to be extant till this Yale And Towne Sextuple or model EE Safe-Time-Lock was found! This is the only extant safe-time-lock with a redundancy of five clock movements!
This time-lock is based on Emory Stockwell’s patent with number 363’920, issued on May 31, 1887, read more>>
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—Earliest known Blow Accordion with 10 keys. Sold!
Very early blow accordion, first half of the 19th century, with 10 ivory keys and two registers. The instrument is unsigned, but believed to be American made. Blow accordions are also called Flute Harmonicas. read more>>
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— Rare, KEY to the AIR, Radio outfit. Sold!
There are probably only two of these radios extant; the antenna to go with this radio is probably the only one extant.
Made in Medford Hillside in Massachusetts by Stafford Radio Co., it was meant to be a low cost radio with only one tube and an antenna to be installed indoors for ease of operation. The tuning of the radio-station listened to was obtained by sliding two square sliders, probably not very practical, hence the failure of this radio to make any sales. The inventor and owner of Stafford Radio Co., Stephen F. Stafford made specific claims in his application for his Double Helical Antenna application which were impossible to prove at the time. Despite this, his application was successful and a patent was issued on August 21, 1923.
read more>>
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— Sargent & Greenleaf model 4 Safe Time Lock of 1878. Sold!
Exceedingly rare Safe-Time-Lock manufactured by Sargent & Greenleaf in Rochester NY. On page 196, John Erroll states in his book, “American Genius, Nineteenth-Century Bank Locks and Time Locks,” that Sargent made 365 of the fourty-six-hour Model 4, of which fifteen are thought to remain today.
This early version was introduced in 1878 and has two forty-six-hour movements and had white enamel dials. read more>>
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—The only known extant Spencer Electric Co., Potbelly Candlestick Telephone (serial no. 32!) Sold!
Almost impossible to find, a telephone which is unknown to the large and very active community of telephone collectors, the Spencer Potbelly Candlestick Telephone. I could not find a picture or any record in any publication in the field of historic telephony, or on the Internet! The only records I could find are three patents issued to James H. Spencer and Malcolm S. Keyes, both of New York City, N.Y., a description in the Scientific American Supplement issue of January 29, 1898, and a description of the novel transmitter published in the Electrical World and Engineer, Volume 34, page 248.
There are many telphone related patents issued and no actual hardware was ever found; this was true about the US Patents with the numbers 596'834, issued on January 4, 1898, and the consecutive numbers 624'696, and 624'697, both issued on the same day, May 9, 1899, untill this telephone was found to prove that it was actually manufactured. The serial number of 32 is an indication that there where not many made.
This candlestick telephone with the novel form of transmitter patented by Spencer and Keyes was manufactured by the the Spencer Electrical Company, 163 Greenwich Street, New York City, N.Y.
A description of the novel transmitter, published in the Electrical World and Engineer, Volume 34, page 248, states: “The object of the invention is to avoid metallic vibrations, only the intended actual sound being properly transmitted. To accomplish this result, Mr. Spencer employs novel means of supporting the diaphragm,” read more>>
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—Peerless Whittler Pencil Sharpener, with three rotating knifes. Sold!
This is an exceedingly rare version with the three cutting knifes of the Peerless Pencil Pointer. If you are an experienced collector, you know that the last one of these showed up on eBay two years ago with a buy it now price of $950.00. The machine sold as soon as it was listed.
Whittler applied for a patent and started manufacturing before the patent issued. In short order, he first manufactured a machine with just one rotating knife, then two, and finally three. The patent never issued and Whittler had to seize production, hence, the machine is very scarce, read more>>
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—Rare, and in fine condition, H. H. Scott model LK-150 Stereo HiFi Vacuum Tube Power Amplifier in perfect working order. Sold!
The pinnacle of HiFi design with vacuum tube technology, the legendary Power Amplifier model LK-150 designed by H.H. Scott in the early 1960's. Producing 75 Watts RMS per channel, this amplifier is a beast! This amplifier comes with its original instruction booklet and other original documentation, read more>>
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—Early version (serial # 160!) of the 1921 three bank Noiseless Portable Typewriter in very good condition. Sold!
This rare machine has the second lowest serial number of any known Noiseless Portable Typewriter there is; the serial number is 160! In the first year of production in 1921, only 200 of these machines were manufactured and these machines are different than the machines builtin the following three years before Remington bought the company, read more>>
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—Civil War Area Pocket Soprano Cornet in Eb with Top-Action Rotary Valves. Sold!
The soprano cornet is a brass musical instrument and considered the top of the score in brass bands. Very similar to the standard Bb cornet, it too is a transposing instrument, but pitched higher (a forth), in Eb.
A single soprano cornet was usually seen in brass bands during the civil war and played lead or descant parts in ensembles.
This rare unsigned instrument which retains its original wooden carrying case dates to around 1860 and features early top-action rotary valves, typical for that time. read more>>
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—Exceedingly rare, maybe the only one extant, CORONET Base Burner Stove. Sold!
This rare stove is called CORONET, and was manufactured by Thomas, Roberts, Stevenson, Co., in Philadelphia, PA, and is a very early base burner stove based on a patent issued in 1874. Base burner stoves from the 1870´s are basically none extant; the only images I could find were images on trade-cards or images out of sales-catalogs from the time.
This very rare and impossible to find base burner stove has ten doors with a total of 25 Mica windows and is a truly illuminated or radiant stove.
Approximately 145 year old, this stove is in surprisingly good condition and all complete and original, including the finial. The fine castings are crafted in the Eastlake style and are of superior quality. read more>>
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