Re: Telegraph Display (John Cole)

I agree...

Put the dummy in a closet someplace. The display would look much better without it.

Regarding "Dummies"...

I had an amusing experience during a Morse Telegraph demonstration I once did at the local Pioneer Park museum here a few years ago...

I had a table set up in the lobby area where people came in to go to into the museum proper, and I had a working array of Morse instruments set up on it.

I was in period "costume" white shirt, vest, eyeshade, sleeveguards, the whole nine yards, and I had the circuit connected up to the Morse Telegraph Club's hub repeater back in Pennsylvania via a dialed-up connection over a long distance circuit.

The wire was working, and the sounder in it's resonator was chattering away as a couple other experienced op's were telegraphing back and forth between some other stations across the country somewhere.
I was sitting there quietly just reading the wire as this progressed....listening to some excellent Morse come over the wire.

A middle aged lady walked in the front door, slowly strolled over to the table, looked the display over carefully, read all the placards I had on stuff, and was standing there when I looked up at her and
said "Good Afternoon, Ma'am".

This gal shrieked and jumped and was startled half out of her wits!..
and then she recovered somewhat and exclaimed:

"Oh My God...I thought you were a Dummy!"

I apologized for startling her so badly and we both had a good laugh about it.

So you see...a real "dummy" could be much better than any mannequin in
such a display.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2008 12:48AM by Etrump.