Saturday, Nov. 10, 2012 — While my wife takes a nap, I thought I would dash into my shack and jot down a few notes … so here I am.
1936B McElroy Mac-Key. At right you’ll find the latest key I picked up on eBay, a very nice original condition 1936B Mac-Key. Unless you’re a McElroy fan(atic), you probably are wondering if the “1936B” is an obscure reference to the Mayan calendar, or perhaps some Depression-era FDR number scheme. Time to talk keys!
Tom French is one of the county’s top key collectors and also an expert on T.R. McElroy, his life and work. In his study of McElroy’s keys, he has developed nomenclature to help collectors better identify their key and when it was made. Prior to French’s work, there was little documented research about McElroy keys. French has a serial number registry for Mac Key owners to record their keys, condition, etc.
BUT WHY 1936B? I’m getting to that! Ted McElroy tinkered with the design of his keys constantly during their production, with his goal of improving them for ease of use and ease of manufacture. During the 1936 production run, the nameplate material changed from brass to aluminum. The keying lever material also changed from cast brass to steel (at the time, McElroy had separate pivots for the dot and dash functions. He later moved to the Vibroplex single pivot). Both of these changes indicate this key is a later 1936 production model.
The key retains the wording on the bottom that is cast into the base and the same damper, though the mounting of the dot and dash contacts changed significantly from 1935 to ’36.
This key is a very good example of the 1936B Mac-Key. It is missing the weights, and the dash contact spring is broken, but the rest is all original, right down to the finger and thumb pieces. Not a bad catch. My next Mac-Key needs to be a 1934 or 1935; those are always harder to come by.
GIVING CREDIT WHERE DUE. I have to salute the seller of this Mac-Key, I have never seen a key so well packed!
The USPS Priority Mail box felt like a solid mass; in fact it was bulging! I carefully cut the tape securing it, only to find a second box inside — a box that was literally wedged into the first box. I pried it out of the USPS box. I carefully opened this box, only to find a THIRD box well packed inside with bubble wrap (the box). The third box held the Mac-Key, and it was apparent the key had been forced into the box; I had to cut the box off the key to get to the key! Wads of crumpled paper filled both ends of the box, but weren’t necessary — the key was wedged so tight in the box, it couldn’t move anywhere. Unpacking the key, I was left with a mound of cardboard and packing; you would think I unpacked a dinette set, not a code key. Sheesh! But as I said, the key arrived unscathed (though damaging a Mac-Key isn’t likely in most cases). I wish every seller could be so careful!
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