# What is the oldest electrical product still being manufactured? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2012, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254 "2012-11-27T09:23:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/21 "2012-11-27T16:45:12Z")
Electrical batteries? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/22 "2012-11-27T16:49:38Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > So, as the title, really. Is there a product say, from the 70s, that is still being made with largely the same components and/or casing, or with slight miniaturisation, today? Several CB radio models sold in North America (Cobra 25, Cobra 29, Cobra 148, and some others) have been in continuous production since the 1970s and 1980s. Why? The radios can be easily modified for freebanding, where they can transmit and receive beyond legal CB frequencies. The radios use easily modifiable PLL chips that are now banned by the FCC for new radios, but grandfathered for old models that continue to be manufactured. Also, truckers seem to prefer the gaudy old-school design, with plenty of chrome. The old models sell for much more than newer models with more contemporary design and better features. The IBM Model M keyboard from the 1980s is still being made by Unicomp, in a factory in Lexington, Kentucky. Cortelco still makes 2500-series touch tone phones in a Mississippi factory, but the internal electronics are much different than the original Western Electric models from the 1960s and 1970s. Can you still buy a new (not new-old stock) AM-only transistor radio anywhere in the world? I’d imagine that the schematic for such a radio would be largely unchanged from the 1960s or 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/23 "2012-11-27T16:56:05Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > while theremins, electric guitars and amplifiers there are likely at least component changes. > > you can get crystal radio AM receiver kits with original type components. > > electrical switches in a knife switch form still are made. What do they use for the crystal in the kits. When I was a kid the crystal was a modern diode. They few that I looked at on line that listed components look like they are using a modern diode instead of a cat’s wisker type diode. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/24 "2012-11-27T16:57:50Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Can you still buy a new (not new-old stock) AM-only transistor radio anywhere in the world? I’d imagine that the schematic for such a radio would be largely unchanged from the 1960s or 1970s. much of the radio circuitry could now be on one integrated circuit chip. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/25 "2012-11-27T17:14:41Z")
There are really two questions being asked. 1. What is the oldest class of electrical product being manufactured? Answers might include “toaster”, “electric guitar”, or “pocket calculator” 2. What is the oldest model of electrical product being manufactured? For example, an electric guitar that is still manufactured to the same functional specs that it was in the 1950’s and is clearly the same product, made to the same specs with only minor updates, if any. For example, you can’t buy a new Ford Model T today, but the Model T was fundamentally an automobile and did not operate in a drastically different way from a 2012 Ford Focus so it’s not meaningful to say that because they don’t make the Model T anymore, automobiles are no longer being made. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/26 "2012-11-27T17:14:46Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > you can get crystal radio AM receiver kits with original type components. > [@gazpacho](#): > > What do they use for the crystal in the kits. When I was a kid the crystal was a modern diode. They few that I looked at on line that listed components look like they are using a modern diode instead of a cat’s wisker type diode. diodes have always been popular since their invention since they are easier to use. galena and iron pyrite were most common. mineral specimen suppliers that sell rocks for educational and collector purposes would have them. there are plans for the cat whisker and many parts were home made. there are crystal radio enthusiast groups where some members might make parts for sale. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/27 "2012-11-27T17:26:31Z")
The nervous systems of animals. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/28 "2012-11-27T17:35:01Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Can you still buy a new (not new-old stock) AM-only transistor radio anywhere in the world? I’d imagine that the schematic for such a radio would be largely unchanged from the 1960s or 1970s. I don’t know of any that are AM-only, but Sony and other manufacturers still make pocket sized AM/FM radios with a front speaker and old style analog slide rule dials like this one. It even has a jack for a single monophonic earphone, not stereo earbuds. [http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00020S7XK/ref=mp\_s\_a\_1?qid=1354037095&sr=8-1&pi=SL75](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00020S7XK/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1354037095&sr=8-1&pi=SL75) ---
**Author:** ![Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Ashley\_Pomeroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashley_Pomeroy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/29 "2012-11-27T19:11:44Z")
Fascinating question. The Panavision Platinum 35mm movie camera was introduced in 1986 and is apparently still in production, although it’s really more mechanical than electrical (it has an electronically-timed shutter). In photo camera terms the old Lomo Compact Automat has been in production since the 1990s at least, and is presumably the same on the inside; I always assumed the Soviets built a huge batch in 1988 and ever since then the people at Lomo drive a forklift into the warehouse and take out a pallet. Surprisingly, the oldest Leica film cameras still in production only date to the early 2000s, and again they’re more mechanical than electronic. The American B-52 bomber has been in service since the 1950s. It hasn’t been _in production_ for decades, and I assume that over time the avionics and engines have been replaced and upgraded, but perhaps somewhere deep inside the fuselage is a component that’s still being made to the original specification, in limited quantities. There’s an interesting article about upgrading B-52s [here](http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/military/Managing-Obsolescence_77710.html) - they’re going to be in service until 2040, apparently. “The hardened components required for nuclear missions are much less volatile and subject to technology evolution”, it says, so perhaps there’s a radiation sensor in the bomb bay that’s still being made by I-Rad-o-Tron of Des Moines to the same specification that it had in 1952. I learn from the article that the last A-10 was delivered 28 years ago, which makes me feel old. And they’re expected to last until 2040 as well. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/30 "2012-11-27T19:20:22Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > What do they use for the crystal in the kits. When I was a kid the crystal was a modern diode. They few that I looked at on line that listed components look like they are using a modern diode instead of a cat’s wisker type diode. I’ve got a couple of new-manufacture, old-style cat’s whisker crystals. I bought them on eBay. They work pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/31 "2012-11-27T19:27:42Z")
If you don’t consider the lighting rod, I would like to offer up the electrical plug and socket invented by Edwin Hubble around 1900. There is a very interesting story behind this. Mr. Hubble was walking in NYC in the early days of electrification and passed by a closed arcade full of games powered by electricity, apparently it was a big fad. A janitor was moving the machines around to clean and kept getting shocked, he went home and designed the two prong plug and socket, almost exactly what we use in the US and Canada today, the ground was added later. **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/32 "2012-11-27T19:32:24Z")
Sorry that was Harvey Hubble II, patents given in 1912 and 1913 **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/33 "2012-11-27T21:22:18Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > More accurate to the original than the original itself? Theseus, your amplifier is back from the shop. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/34 "2012-11-27T21:25:06Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > What do they use for the crystal in the kits. When I was a kid the crystal was a modern diode. They few that I looked at on line that listed components look like they are using a modern diode instead of a cat’s wisker type diode. I believe a razor blade and pencil lead may be used. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/35 "2012-11-27T21:35:45Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I believe a razor blade and pencil lead may be used. Interesting. Online sources indicate that it needs to be a rusty razor. Now I know of two uses for a rusty razor. > **[Chapter 4: Radio](https://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/homemade_radio.html)** > > Make a homemade radio out of household materials ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/36 "2012-11-27T22:10:13Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Interesting. Online sources indicate that it needs to be a rusty razor. Now I know of two uses for a rusty razor. > > [Chapter 4: Radio](http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/homemade_radio.html) Regular MacGyvers, we are. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/37 "2012-11-27T22:28:41Z")
Electric motors were invented in the 1880’s and the original design hasn’t changed very much. Indeed, there seems to be [an early model that’s still being produced](http://www.physics.umd.edu/lecdem/services/demos/demosk4/k4-21.gif) and sold, albeit as an educational model only. [Looks like they may be using plastic as a base](http://www.arborsci.com/st-louis-motor)now, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/38 "2012-11-27T22:41:41Z")
Some people are still making [Baghdad Batteries.](http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-quotBaghdad-Batteryquot/) The design is at least 2000 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/39 "2012-11-27T22:53:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Now I know of two uses for a rusty razor. The other being shaving a drunken sailor’s balls? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254/40 "2012-11-28T01:26:36Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Interesting. Online sources indicate that it needs to be a rusty razor. Now I know of two uses for a rusty razor. > > [Chapter 4: Radio](http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/radio/homemade_radio.html) I’ve actually _tried_ that. Yes, it works, and you can use a rusted nail, or a [rusty razor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rusty_Razor). It has to be a powerful signal, and they are probably _not_ playing [rusty razor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rusty_Razor)s. It’s actually _amazing_ what you can make work… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-oldest-electrical-product-still-being-manufactured/642254.md?page=3)