Assorted Stuff
This is an assortment of stuff. In this group, sitting atop a small ice box, are a jukebox wall unit, old dial-type pay telephone, some sets of tiny books, Knock 'em Dead can, Hoffer Wonder Microphone, Vibroplex bug, toddler shoes, Nancy doll, another microphone, and an old headset (around base of microphone). We keep rolls for our player piano inside the ice box.
The jukebox wall unit is a Seeburg 100 Wall-O-Matic. The lights inside the unit still operate, but it is not connected to a jukebox.
The telephone is connected and works, and has been modified so that it doesn't need coins any more.
One of the tiny book sets is "The Do-It-Yourself Genius Kit". This four-volume set contains "Facts", "Amazing Facts", "Incredibly Amazing Facts", and "Stupendously Incredibly Amazing Facts".Contained in "Facts" are useful tidbits such as "The commonest letter in English is 'e'". I might argue with them on that one - 'e' is merely the first letter and only occurs once in the word. In "Stupendously Incredibly Amazing Facts" are some real useful facts, like "Polar bears can outrun reindeer" and "From the southern hemisphere, the man in the moon appears to be upside-down".
Hey, how can you not smile at an applicator can of "Knock 'em Dead - The Great Bed Bug Exterminator"?
The Hoffer Wonder Microphone was manufactured in the early 1930's. The printing on the box says "Talk, Sing, Play - What Fun!" and "Practice voice audition in the privacy of your home." It contains wiring instructions telling you how to wire the cord to the base of a vacuum tube in your radio so that you can use the radio as a voice amplifier. The tube types mentioned are the old 5-pin types 224 and 227. To connect the microphone, you merely pulled the detector tube from your radio, wrapped one wire from the microphone around the cathode pin, and the other wire around the plate pin, then plugged the tube back into its socket.
The Vibroplex "bug" is a semi-automatic mechanical telegraph key that was used by amateur radio operators before electronic keyers and computers took over. A good operator could send 30 words per minute with a bug. I (Walker) used this one back in the 60's.
The other microphone is an Electro-Voice 638. The headset, barely visible in the photo, is a 1940's vintage military aviator's headset.