Thursday, May 15, 2014 — Another key unearthed recently in my radio shack desk excavations is this 1938B McElroy Mac Key Deluxe with a thin dot stabilizer. The key is in very good shape with the exception of the paint loss on each end of the t-bar, a fairly common issue with these keys.
The key arrived without weights, but it is otherwise complete and mostly original. I love the look of the Mac Key Deluxes. Design-wise, the keys of this era are still pretty clunky. The circuit closer is still a little bit of a jerry-rigged deal in my book in this era, but it was an effective and durable design that was 
easy to add to turn a “standard” key into a “deluxe” one (with the addition of the marbelite paint, of course).
I find it amazing how well these keys still work after more than 75 years. There’s no doubt the keys have outlived the vast majority of their original owners, and they’ll probably be around for a couple more generations (or until people lose all interest in the “original” digital mode, hi hi).
I love using these keys, but that goes without saying I love bugs, hi hi.
-30-