For more information about TELEGRAPH KEYS,
Please Visit my TELEGRAPH MUSEUM at http://w1tp.com
A 1950's photograph of famous newscaster Walter Winchell
and his telegraph keys appears on the LEFT
...and a 1998 photograph of Tom Perera with the duplicate telegraph keys
appears on the RIGHT.
(RIGHT): I have carefully duplicated the unique TELEGRAPH KEY setup used by
Walter Winchell in his evening broadcasts. The setup will be used
in a Hollywood movie.
Walter Winchell used these keys to generate fast morse code which
he sent as 900Hz tones as he started his broadcasts with:
"Good evening Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea....." "LETS GO TO PRESS"!
If you would like to actually HEAR Walter Winchell's sign-on (as well as sounds from many other popular early radio programs:
The telegraph Key in the foreground is a VIBROPLEX "LIGHTNING DELUXE".
The key in the background is a VIBROPLEX "ORIGINAL".
These keys were originally acquired by collector Steve Wilson.
These keys were designed to increase the speed at which telegraph
operators could send dots in the Morse code...
Pressing the lever to the right activates a vibrating mechanism
which produces a long string of dots.
Moving the lever to the left allows the operator to produce dashes manually.
Click here for a look at actor Stanley Tucci
as Walter Winchell.
This is the photograph used to advertise the HBO special movie
on Walter Winchell to be aired on November 21, 1998. The very
top of the two bugs can be seen sticking up in front of
Winchell's right arm. A full length wide screen movie is also being made
about Winchell's life. Presumably, the same two bugs will
be used.
For more information about TELEGRAPH KEYS,
Please Visit my TELEGRAPH MUSEUM at http://w1tp.com
Professor Tom Perera
Montclair State University