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DATING YOUR VIBROPLEX KEY |
| Almost all Vibroplexes have serial numbers, but there was no way to date a Vibroplex by its serial number until John Elwood, WW7P, published the following document in 1996. Somewhere along the line the Vibroplex production records were lost or discarded. Starting in 1990, John compiled this information from a list of more than 3000 Vibroplexes, their serial numbers, and the date they were purchased, if known. This document is copyrighted by WW7P, and is reproduced here with John's permission. John has asked that this document be published verbatim, exactly as he generated it. That's why the information is not presented in a more Web-friendly format. The reader should apply some common sense to the information in John's document. As John says, much of the serial number/date table was generated by interpolation. I believe the dates are accurate to within a year or so. As John points out, he has added commas to the serial numbers to make the table easier to read. Vibroplex did not use commas inside serial numbers. Many thanks to John for a truly amazing effort! |
BIRTH DATES OF THE VIBROPLEX KEYS© 1996 |
| As a key collector I have been asked many times to date Vibroplex keys. At first it appeared nearly impossible to do, so I decided to undertake a project that would help us know how old and when our keys were made. It’s been a long job starting in 1990. I’ll start with serial numbers and approximate dates, then list the sources for my dates, such as when the keys were first/and last advertised, patent dates, sales slips, Vibroplex’s addresses over the years, information from owners, etc. After the above dates have been ascertained, other dates were determined by extrapolation of the figures. Remember, these are approximate dates, but I feel they are very close. |
It appears that Vibroplex assigned blocks of numbers for different |
| KEY | SERIAL NUMBERS |
| ORIGINAL | 400-4416 |
| DOUBLE LEVER | 6010-6014 |
| DOUBLE LEVER | D5015-D5310 |
| ORIGINAL | 9,000-9,999 |
| "X" | 10,238-12,250 |
| No. 4 | B518-B1623 |
| ORIGINAL | 20,011-20,788 |
| "X" | 25,090-26,154 |
| ORIGINAL | 50,000-51,814 |
| With the 253 Broadway address and later plates, the serial numbers ran consecutively. |
Commas have been inserted to facilitate reading the numbers. |
| NUMBER | APPROXIMATE YEAR |
| 400-1,286 | 1905 |
| 1,287-2,777 | 1906 |
| 2,778-3,255 | 1907 |
| 3,256-6,106 | 1908 |
| No numbers reported between 6,107 and 9,999 | |
| No numbers reported | 1909 |
| No numbers reported | 1910 |
| 10,000-10,399 | 1911 |
| 10,400-11,766 * 20,000-20,621 | 1912 |
| 11,767-12,250 * 20,622-20,800 25,000-25,577 ** 50,000-50,907 D5015-D5310 |
|
| 25,578-26,154 ** 50,908-51,827 B518-B1623 | 1914 |
| * No numbers reported 12,251-19,999 ** No numbers reported 26,155-49,999 | |
| 51,828-54,231 | 1915 |
| 54,232-57,268 | 1916 |
| 57,269-60,308 | 1917 |
| 60,309-64,573 | 1918 |
| 64,574-72,352 | 1919 |
| 72,353-80,960 | 1920 |
| 80,961-84,681 | 1921 |
| 84,682-88,402 | 1922 |
| 88,403-91,375 | 1923 |
| 91,376-94,316 | 1924 |
| 94,317-95,865 | 1925 |
| 95,866-99,574 | 1926 |
| 99,575-101,339 | 1927 |
| 101,340-103,104 | 1928 |
| 103,105-103,952 | 1929 |
| 103,953-104,800 | 1930 |
| 104,801-105,648 | 1931 |
| 105,649-106,496 | 1932 |
| 106,497-107,344 | 1933 |
| 107,345-108,192 | 1934 |
| 108,193-109,040 | 1935 |
| 109,041-109,888 | 1936 |
| 109,889-110,736 | 1937 |
| 110,737-111,571 | 1938 |
| 111,572-113,865 | 1939 |
| 113,866-116,159 | 1940 |
| 116,160-118,452 | 1941 |
| 118,453-122,536 | 1942 |
| 123,537-126,619 | 1943 |
| 126,620-137,394 | 1944 |
| 137,395-148,169 | 1945 |
| 148,170-152,526 | 1946 |
| 152,527-156,883 | 1947 |
| 156,884-161,353 | 1948 |
| 161,354-165,822 | 1949 |
| 165,823-170,292 | 1950 |
| 170,293-174,762 | 1951 |
| 174,763-179,232 | 1952 |
| 179,233-183,702 | 1953 |
| 183,703-188,172 | 1954 |
| 188,173-192,642 | 1955 |
| 192,643-197,112 | 1956 |
| 197,113-201,582 | 1957 |
| 201,583-206,052 | 1958 |
| 206,053-210,517 | 1959 |
| 210,518-217,034 | 1960 |
| 217,035-223,551 | 1961 |
| 223,552-230,068 | 1962 |
| 230,069-236,585 | 1963 |
| 236,586-240,870 | 1964 |
| 240,871-245,155 | 1965 |
| 245,156-249,440 | 1966 |
| 249,441-253,725 | 1967 |
| 253,726-258,010 | 1968 |
| 258,011-263,874 | 1969 |
| 263,875-266,151 | 1970 |
| 266,152-267,328 | 1971 |
| 267,329-270,152 | 1972 |
| 270,153-272,975 | 1973 |
| 272,976-373,006 | Only two numbers reported. |
| 373,007-375,415 | 1974 |
| 375,416-378,752 | 1975 |
| 378,753-382,089 | 1976 |
| 382,090-385,426 | 1977 |
| 385,427-386,951 | 1978 |
| Portland, Maine |
| 386,952-391,230 | 1979 |
| 4,003-4,955 5,261-5,921 40,000-40,787 | 1980 |
| 40,788-42,077 | 1983 |
| Assorted numbers 42,078-49,762 | 1982 thru 1984 |
| 01,185-01,671 | 1983 |
| 01,672-02,158 | 1984 |
| 49,763-51,710 02,159-02,645 | 1985 |
| 51,711-54,163 02,646-03,132 | 1986 |
| 54,164-55,911 03,133-03,619 | 1987 |
| 55,912-60,077 No numbers reported | |
| 60,078-61,963 03,620-04,106 61,964-62,254 04,107-04,337 | 1988 |
| 62,255-65,764 04,338-05,334 | 1990 |
| 65,765-67,132 05,335-06,439 | 1991 |
| 67,133-69,068 06,440-07,725 | 1992 |
| 69,069-70,410 07,726-07,896 | 1993 |
| 70,411-70,778 07,897-08,205 | 1994 |
| 70,779-80,361 No numbers reported |
Portland, Maine and Mobile, Alabama |
| 80,362-80,870 08,206-08,514 | 1995 |
| 80,871-100,499 No numbers reported | |
| 100,500- | 1995 - |
KEY START DATE/SOURCE STOP DATE/SOURCE
ORIGINAL June 1905 Still in production
"The Commercial Telegraphers’
Journal", June 1905, Pg. 32
Double Jul 1907-Aug. 1908 Feb. 1925
Lever Nameplate from WD6DTC key "The Railroad Telegrapher",
Feb. 1925, Pg. 32
"X" Dec. 1911 Jan. 1923
"The Railroad Telegrapher", "The Railroad Telegrapher",
Dec. 1911, Pg. 376a Jan. 1923, Pg. 6
No. 4/ Aug. 1914 Dec. 1966
Blue Racer "Journal of the Telegraph", Harrison Ad.
Aug. 1914, Pg. 15 "QST", Dec. 1966, Pg. 170
Upright Nov. 1917 Feb. 1919
"Electrical Experimenter", "Telegraph and Telephone
Pg. 458 Age", Feb. 1919, Pg. 11
Midget Oct. 1918 Sep. 1920
"The Railroad Telegrapher", "The Railroad Telegrapher",
Oct. 1918, Pg. 268 Sep. 1920, pg. 358
Martin c. Jul/Aug 1920 Oct. 1939
Junior WW7P Survey "QST", Oct. 1939, Pg. 106
No. 6/ June 1927 Nov. 1980
Lightning "The Railroad Telegrapher", Tufts Ad. "73" Magazine
June 1927, Pg. 126 Nov. 1980, Pg. 163
Champion Nov. 1939 Nov. 1980
"QST", Nov. 1939, Pg. 114 Tufts Ad. "73" Magazine
Nov. 1980, Pg. 163
Zephyr Jan. 1939 1958
U.S. Pat. 2,187,351 shows WW7P Survey. Last Zephyr
a Zephyr. Filed 1/9/39 s/n: 201,928
Presentation Nov. 1948 Still in production
"QST", Nov. 1948, Pg. 138
Vibro-Keyer Jan. 1960 Still in production
"QST", Jan. 1960, Pg. 140
Iambic Dec. 1979 Still in production
"QST", Dec. 1979, Pg. 212
Brass Racer- Nov. 1982 Still in production
Iambic "QST", Nov. 1982, Pg. 162
Brass Racer- Nov. 1982 Still in production
EK-1 "QST", Nov. 1982, Pg. 196
Straight Key-Nov. 1996/"QST", Nov. 1996, Pg. 201 Still in production
Most recent
Pat. Date or
Latest Pat.
Number Date Range
Aug. 9, 1904 Aug. 9, 1904 - Apr. 15, 1906
767,303
Aug. 9, 1904 Apr. 16, 1906 - Jan. 21, 1907
Others pend-
ing
Jan 22,07 Jan. 22, 1907 - Jun. 30, 1911
842,154
Jan 22, 07
Ohers pend-
ing Oct. 27, 1911 - Nov. 4, 1912
842,154
Others pend-
ing
Nov. 5, 1912 Nov. 5, 1912 - Aug. 3, 1917
1,043,449
1,043,449
Others pend- Aug. 4, 1917 - Mar. 18, 1918
ing
1,178,291 aprox. 1918 & 1919
(Boulter) WW7P Survey
1,260,008 Mar. 19, 1918 - Jul. 1920 (Start of 825 Broadway
address)
Vertical Nos. (On later keys with the Bug logo)
763,303 At top of list is wrong. This patent is for a clip
issued to Joseph A. Mayers, June 21, 1904. Correct
number should have been 767,303 issued to Horace G.
Martin, August 9, 1904
1,260,008 825 Broadway. Jul. 1920 - Feb. 12, 1923. "The
Railroad Telegrapher", Jul. 20, 1920,
Pg. 274
1,445,226 This patent number preceeded 1,260,008 plus other pat-
ents pending on Vibroplex keys.
825 Broadway. Feb. 13, 1923 (U.S. Pat. date) -
Feb. 12, 1925
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
796 Fulton. Feb. 13, 1925 - Jan. 8, 1939
"QST", Apr. 1925, Pg. 76 (Minus 2 mos
for ad to be submitted)
5Vertical Nos. Date Range
Magazine ads for period Jun. 1925 - Apr. 1941 show
address as either:
825 Broadway
or
832 Broadway
however, all keys for this period are marked:
796 Fulton St.
1,260,008 796 Fulton St. Jan. 9, 1939 - 3-26-42 (Date on J-36 key)
Other pats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pending
833 Broadway 3-27-42 ---1945
"Patented" 1948 - 1963 WW7P Survey
833 Broad-
way
No Pat. Nos. 1963 - 1980 WW7P Survey. New company using up
No word Pat- 833 Broadway plates between Sep. 1979-
ented 1980.
833 Broad-
way
No Pat. Nos. 1980 - Aug. 1994 WW7P Survey
No word Pat-
ented
No street
address
RED/GREEN/BLUE COLOR BASE
START/SOURCE STOP/SOURCE
Jun. 1929 "QST",Jun. 1929, Jul. 1936 "QST", Jul. 1936,
Pg. 86 Pg. 71
VIBROPLEX PATENTS
Only Vibroplex patents listed that appear as last patent num-
ber/or most recent date on the nameplate.
For a rough estimate of when your key was made, use that patent
date and the next patent’s filing date.
Patent Number Filing Date Patent Date
767,303 5/7/04 8/9/04
842,154 4/16/06 1/22/07
1,043,449 10/27/11 11/5/12
1,178,291 8/1/14 4/4/16
1,260,008 8/4/17 3/19/18
1,445,226 12/10/21 2/13/23
As I mentioned at the first of the article; this has been a
lengthy project - well over six years, quite costly, data on over
3,135 Vibroplex keys and the aid of nearly 2,000 owners. |
I want to say a special thank you to my wife, Edith, for all
her help and patience over the years.
Another who has been most helpful is Tom French, W1IMQ.
This article deals only with the dating of the keys. For much
more information on Vibroplex keys such as pictures, identification,
ads, patents, modifications within models, nameplate data, etc., I
recommend you purchase Tom French’s latest book "Vibroplex Collector’s
Guide", Revised Edition. Tom’s address is:
P.O. Box 88
Maynard, MA 01754
U.S.A.
A most heartfelt thank you to the many who furnished data on
your keys. The first draft of this article listed each of you but
it ran two and a half pages - single spaced. I’m afraid no publisher
would accept that, so this paragraph will show my appreciation for
your fine cooperation.
Now, when someone asks how old your key is, you can say, "The
birth date of my Vibroplex key is ".
|
Vibroplex, Lightning Bug and the bug logo are trademarks of The Vibroplex Co., Inc. |