Miniature Bunnell Instruments




Miniature Bunnell Instruments

21A       Here is the key used on the combination set shown on page 17. A scarce and highly desireable novelty item, a Bunnell miniature key would be the star of a key collector's display.

21B       The miniature sounder was a novelty item but it wasn't a toy. It was available in three different resistances, and so could be used on anything from a local battery circuit (5 ohms) to a main telegraph wire (150 ohms).

      Although these items were working miniatures, it is doubtful that those who bought them saw them as anything more then cute display pieces. And since they cost as much than cute display pieces. And since they cost as much as the real thing--namely, a day's pay and more when a day was ten hours long--it is doubtful that many of these miniatures were sold.

      They do exist in collections, however, and undoubtedly others collect dust in the back of many a bureau drawer. The patient and alert collector will not despair of finding these smallest of telegraph instruments.

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