[GreenKeys] Fwd: The Teletype Museum & the AWA Museum (was Model 31 Teletype )

[Duncan Brown]

Someone asked on the AWA list why they hadn't heard about the Teletype 
Corp Museum donation to the AWA Museum and why it wasn't written up in 
the AWA quarterly publication.  This was what I posted on the AWA list 
and since it concerns teletypewriters, I thought I would post it here, 
too. Also included is a little more information on the M31.

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	The Teletype Museum & the AWA Museum (was Model 31 Teletype )
Date: 	Fri, 15 Nov 2013 11:28:16 -0500
From: 	Duncan Brown <duncanancy at earthlink.net>
To: 	antiquewirelessassociation at yahoogroups.com


The Teletype Corp. once had a large (~700 pieces) collection of 
prototypes, early models and competitor's products in their R&D 
building.  But as often happens in industry, floor space is valuable and 
most of the collection had to be boxed up and put into storage. In the 
late 1970's, what was left of their museum was also boxed up and put 
into storage. By the mid 1980's, the storage area was also needed and it 
was decided to get rid of the main collection. (A few of Teletype's 
"winners": Models 15, 28, 33, & 40 were saved.)

Teletype Corp. contacted the Smithsonian Museum, thinking that they 
would like the collection.  Smithsonian said that they had most of what 
they needed, but gave Teletype Corp. the names of other "major" museums, 
including the AWA Museum, that might be interested in the collection 
artifacts.

Before the Teletype Museum collection had been boxed up, the curator of 
the Museum, Ran Slayton, had cataloged the complete collection with a 
photograph and description of each item. These were bound into twelve  9 
x17" books and are known as the Teletype Museum Books.  When the 
collection was to be dispersed in the mid 1980s, copies of these books 
were sent out to all the Museums that had expressed interest in taking 
parts of the collection, for them to choose what they wanted.

When we unpacked the old AWA Annex library and were setting up the new 
AWA library in the AWA Media Building, the AWA's copies of the Teletype 
Corp. Museum Books showed up!! (This may be the only set still in 
existence.)

I have had our Museum books scanned (thanks, K4OZY), but many of the 
photos came out poorly (too dark).  If the image is lightened, then you 
cannot read the text.  One of my spare-time projects is to go through 
and selectively lighten just the pictures.  Once that is done, the books 
will be put on line. (Hope I can get to it this winter!)  Enclosed is a 
scan of a page of the M31 tape printer that we have been discussing 
(that photo is pretty good). Although it says it went to the "Chicago 
Museum of Science and Industry", this looks like the M31 that we have in 
the AWA Museum (with 26L6GT & dynamotor).

The donation to AWA of this equipment happened long before I was a 
member of AWA, but I came across some of the artifacts while digging 
around in the old Annex when I first started working at the Museum in 
2000. I don't know of any literature that was donated (other than the 
Museum Books). Items that I have identified as coming from the Teletype 
Corp. Museum that are now in the AWA collection:
  Teletype Corp.
     M31 (aka TT-30/AGA-1) tape printer; c 1947
     GPE (aka "iron horse") perforator; c 1930
     M36 (aka "monopulse") keyboard & tape printer; c 1940
     T-61 encryption unit (similar to SIGCUM but with a tape reader);  c 
WWII
     various Morse (aka Wheatstone, Kline) tape readers & possibly tape 
punches

Kleinschmidt Electric Co.
     Model 20A tape printer; c 1920
     (this printer uses the now standard 5-bit code, but in _parallel_. 
There is no motor. Instead, there are five solenoids that read and store 
the data, and then another solenoid that initiates the print function. 
The early 1900s teleprinters all operated in parallel with individual 
address lines. This is why the M14 tape readers had a big "distributor" 
and were know as "transmitter-distributors" or "TDs". The tape holes 
(bits) were read in parallel and the distributor did the parallel to 
serial conversion.  Today's computer architecture still uses this system 
of a parallel data bus and a "chip select" line to tell which device 
should read the data on the bus at that time.)

The Teletype Corp. M31 & GPE and the KEC M20A are now on display in the 
new AWA Museum.

I can't tell you why there was not an AWA OTB/Journal article about the 
donation from Teletype Corp. back in the 1980s, but this email will have 
to suffice!

Have fun,
Duncan Brown, K2OEQ
USASA  31J

Antique Wireless Association Museum Asst. Curator, Commercial Equipment
(also Chief TTY operator & repairman)
http://www.antiquewireless.org/



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