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The contents of the box will give children the chance to compare the considerable differences that occurred in the development of technology, from the Victorian Glass Slide to one of the first Mobile Phones.

The box contains 3 Cameras, 4 Telephones and an example of a 1950’s Gramophone, along with 78 rpm records to demonstrate the sound and workings of the gramophone. There is more than one example of each category in the box so it really lives up to its name, this will help the children compare how technology has changed during certain periods. Then, when they look at modern technology they will have a good understanding of how these pieces of equipment have evolved.

The aim of this Box is to demonstrate how lots of changes and improvements had to happen to arrive at what we have today, rather than just one sudden, drastic change! The contents of this box and photos of each item are shown below.

Image of WAX CYLINDER, 1920's

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WAX CYLINDER, 1920's

This is a two minute cylinder for use with the Edison Standard Phonograph (see Photo in loan box).
The earliest Phonographs were used for dictation and only later were the cylinders used to record music and singing.
They are made of wax and that makes them very fragile, but because they have been kept in the original boxes lots do still survive.

Image of DECCA NURSERY GRAMOPHONE , 1950's

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DECCA NURSERY GRAMOPHONE , 1950's

This portable gramophone was made for children in the 1950's, with nursery rhyme transfers painted by Dora Roderick,it plays 78rpm records.
It is very heavy but it was called a "portable", it needs to be wound up to make the turn table go round, when the sound arm is placed on top of a 78rpm record the sound that it makes is remarkably good.

Image of 78rpm RECORDS FOR USE ON THE NURSERY GRAMOPHONE, 1950's

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78rpm RECORDS FOR USE ON THE NURSERY GRAMOPHONE, 1950's

HMV Nursery Rhymes
HMV Old Macdonald Had a Farm/Mother Goose Medley
MGM The 3 Little Pigs part 1/part 2

The old 78rpm records are very fragile, these are all suitable for children, and can be used on the Decca Nursery Gramophones (full instructions for use are in the loans box)

"C" "3"

Image of GPO 312 TELEPHONE, 1938

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GPO 312 TELEPHONE, 1938

This telephone was also made in Red, White and Green, here is the Black version of 300 series, it is very heavy.
This type of telephone was used from 1938 to 1965

"D "4"

Image of GPO TELEPHONE 746, 1960

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GPO TELEPHONE 746, 1960

Replaced the 300 series style in 1959, this telephone came in many different colours, and also two tone colours too.

"E "5"

Image of TRIMPHONE TELEPHONE, 1970

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TRIMPHONE TELEPHONE, 1970

This phone showed a completely different design to anything seen before, again like the 700 series phone, it came in lots of different colours, and it had a different sound too, it didn't ring like the others it sort of bleeped.

"F" "6"

Image of MOTOROLA INDEPENDENT MOBILE PHONE , 1993

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MOTOROLA INDEPENDENT MOBILE PHONE , 1993

Known as 'A Brick' because of its size and weight, the earlier Mobile Phones (1980's) were much bigger than this one, they were used by business people who had to keep them in their cars because the charging unit was installed next to the drivers seat.

Image of VICTORIAN GLASS SLIDE , 1801

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VICTORIAN GLASS SLIDE , 1801

This glass slide is hand painted, as were all the earlier Victorian ones. In later photography, images were recorded onto glass slides and would be shown as black and white, not coloured like this one.
This slide would have been shown by using the Victorian Magic Lantern.

The Magic Lantern shown in the photograph (included in the loan box) has an electric lamp mounted inside that looks original, although it is possible it may have been converted by a professional from an earlier oil lamp. The Magic Lantern or Lanterna Magica was the ancestor of the modern slide projector.

"H" "8"

Image of KODAK BOX BROWNIE CAMERA No 2, 1930's

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KODAK BOX BROWNIE CAMERA No 2, 1930's

'Brownie' was the name of a long-running and extremely popular series of simple and inexpensive cameras made by Kodak, the first Brownie was introduced in 1900 and was made of cardboard, as is this one.
The Brownie popularized low-cost photography and introduced the concept of the snapshot.

Image of KODAK BROWNIE 127 , 1950's

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KODAK BROWNIE 127 , 1950's

This was another example of the 'Brownie' series, it is made of Bakelite and was very easy to use.
Millions were sold between 1952 and 1967,

Image of PRAKTICA SUPER TL CAMERA, 1978

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PRAKTICA SUPER TL CAMERA, 1978

The Praktica Super TL 3 was introduced in March 1978, showing no fundamental changes when compared to its predecessors.
This classic SLR was manufactured by East German VEB Pentacon (Dresden) and sold in the US by serial re-brander Hanimex

"K" "11"


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