Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018 — One of the eBay goodies I picked up last month was a full-sized based Blue Racer from the mid-1920s. It isn’t in mint condition of course, the key worked for a living, but is mostly complete. The top of the base was painted with a gold paint, which has faded into a dull 
finish the color of Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard. Not much of a looker either, hi!
But while straightening up the shack I ran across the December 1918 issue of The Railroad Telegrapher, the official organ of the Order of Railroad Telegraphers. The magazine features the goings-on of chapters of the ORT around the country — in tiny size type — as well as a very lengthy transcript of a hearing related to rairoads and their employees.
The most important thing to me were the ads in the magazine — and the artwork.
The art elements in the magazine show the influence of the rising Art Deco style (or that’s the best that I can determine. I’m not an art expert but I know what I like, hi!). The cover and the editor’s page art are just gorgeous.
But getting back to business — telegraph keys — my eyes were drawn to the full-page ad from Vibroplex in the back of the magazine. The magazine is roughly the size of the QST of the same era, for comparison.
Ironic that I had just mentioned the Blue Racer with the full-size base — the advertisement in the ORT magazine mentions the options available to the buyer wanting a Blue Racer.
The three options were: 1) The blue-based Blue Racer with standard narrow base; 2) The nickel-plated narrow base Blue Racer; or 3) The Blue Racer mounted on the “old style” black japanned standard full-size base. The key sold for $15 with $2 more for the plated base version.
The real standout in the same ad however is the large illustration of the “Martin Midget.” Its interesting to note there are only two prices for the keys in the ad — all of the painted base keys are $15, regardless of model selected. The plated-base keys were priced at $17. I would buy every “Martin Midget” I could buy at $15 each!
The ad is another piece of evidence that the wide-based Blue Racer was not a mistake but intentionally offered as an option. It doesn’t answer the why — if one could buy the Vibroplex Original for the same price, why would an op want the Blue Racer parts on the full-size base? Perhaps the smaller size of the Blue Racer parts made it an attractive option for the operator who wanted something different.
73 es CUL … de KY4Z SK …. dit dit ….