Dating Your Vibroplex
Almost all Vibroplexes have serial numbers, but there was no way to date a Vibroplex by its serial number until John Elwood, WW7P, published the following document in 1996. Somewhere along the line the Vibroplex production records were lost or discarded. Starting in 1990, John compiled this information from a list of more than 3000 Vibroplexes, their serial numbers, and the date they were purchased, if known.
This document is copyrighted by WW7P and appears here, as on many other websites, with thanks and respect for his endeavors. The copyright owner asks that this document be published verbatim, exactly as he generated it.
The reader should apply some common sense to the information in John's document. As John says, much of the serial number/date table was generated by interpolation - however, he believes the dates are accurate to within a year or so. As John points out, he has added commas to the serial numbers to make the table easier to read. Vibroplex did NOT use commas inside serial numbers.
Many thanks to John WW7P for a truly amazing effort!
BIRTH DATES OF THE VIBROPLEX KEYS © 1996
by John Elwood, WW7P, 5716 N. 34th Dr., Phoenix, AZ 85017 USA
As a key collector I have been asked many times to date Vibroplex
keys. At first it appeared nearly impossible to do, so I decided to
undertake a project that would help us know how old and when our keys
were made. It’s been a long job starting in 1990.
I’ll start with serial numbers and approximate dates, then list
the sources for my dates, such as when the keys were first/and last
advertised, patent dates, sales slips, Vibroplex’s addresses over the
years, information from owners, etc.
After the above dates have been ascertained, other dates were de-
termined by extrapolation of the figures.
Remember, these are approximate dates but I feel they are very
close.
It appears that Vibroplex assigned blocks of numbers for differ-
ent models of keys between 1905 and 1915.
KEY SERIAL NUMBERS KEY SERIAL NUMBERS
ORIGINAL 400-4416 ORIGINAL 50,000-51,814
DOUBLE LEVER 6010-6014 With the 253 Broadway ad-
DOUBLE LEVER D5015-D5310 dress and later plates the
ORIGINAL 9,000-9,999 serial numbers ran consec-
"X" 10,238-12,250 utively.
No. 4 B518-B1623
ORIGINAL 20,011-20,788
"X" 25,090-26,154
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Commas have been inserted to facilitate reading the numbers.
NUMBER APROX. YR NUMBER APROX. YR
400-1,286 1905 84,682-88,402 1922
1,287-2,777 1906 88,403-91,375 1923
2,778-3,255 1907 91,376-94,316 1924
3,256-6,106 1908 94,317-95,865 1925
No numbers reported 95,866-99,574 1926
between
6,107-9,999 99,575-101,339 1927
No numbers 1909 101,340-103,104 1928
reported
103,105-103,952 1929
No numbers 1910
reported 103,953-104,800 1930
10,000-10,399 1911 104,801-105,648 1931
10,400-11,766 } 105,649-106,496 1932
* } 1912
20,000-20,621 } 106,497-107,344 1933
11,767-12,250 } 107,345-108,192 1934
* }
20,622-20,800 } 108,193-109,040 1935
25,000-25,577 } 1913
** } 109,041-109,888 1936
50,000-50,907 }
D5015-D5310 } 109,889-110,736 1937
25,578-26,154 } 110,737-111,571 1938
** }
50,908-51,827 } 1914 111,572-113,865 1939
B518-B1623
113,866-116,159 1940
* No numbers
reported 116,160-118,452 1941
12,251-19,999
** No numbers 118,453-122,536 1942
reported
26,155-49,999 123,537-126,619 1943
51,828-54,231 1915 126,620-137,394 1944
54,232-57,268 1916 137,395-148,169 1945
57,269-60,308 1917 148,170-152,526 1946
60,309-64,573 1918 152,527-156,883 1947
64,574-72,352 1919 156,884-161,353 1948
72,353-80,960 1920 161,354-165,822 1949
80,961-84,681 1921 165,823-170,292 1950
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NUMBER APROX. YR NUMBER APROX. YR
170,293-174,762 1951 Portland, Maine
174,763-179,232 1952 386,952-391,230 1979
179,233-183,702 1953 4,003-4,955
5,261-5,921 1980
183,703-188,172 1954 40,000-40,787
188,173-192,642 1955 40,788-42,077 1983
192,643-197,112 1956 Assorted nos. 1982 through
42,078-49,762 1984
197,113-201,582 1957
201,583-206,052 1958 01,185-01,671 1983
206,053-210,517 1959 01,672-02,158 1984
210,518-217,034 1960 49,763-51,710 1985
02,159-02,645
217,035-223,551 1961
51,711-54,163 1986
223,552-230,068 1962 02,646-03,132
230,069-236,585 1963 54,164-55,911 1987
03,133-03,619
236,586-240,870 1964
55,912-60,077
240,871-245,155 1965 No numbers re-
ported
245,156-249,440 1966
60,078-61,963 1988
249,441-253,725 1967 03,620-04,106
61,964-62,254
253,726-258,010 1968 04,107-04,337
258,011-263,874 1969 62,255-65,764 1990
04,338-05,334
263,875-266,151 1970
65,765-67,132 1991
266,152-267,328 1971 05,335-06,439
267,329-270,152 1972 67,133-69,068 1992
06,440-07,725
270,153-272,975 1973
69,069-70,410 1993
272,976-373,006 07,726-07,896
Only two num-
bers reported 70,411-70,778 1994
07,897-08,205
373,007-375,415 1974
70,779-80,361
375,416-378,752 1975 No numbers
reported
378,753-382,089 1976
382,090-385,426 1977 80,362-80,870 1995
08,206-08,514
385,427-386,951 1978 Portland, ME &
Mobile, AL
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NUMBER APROX. YR NUMBER APROX. YR
80,871-100,499 100,500- 1995 (Continued)
No numbers
Reported
KEY START DATE/SOURCE STOP DATE/SOURCE
ORIGINAL June 1905 Still in production
"The Commercial Telegraphers’
Journal", June 1905, Pg. 32
Double Jul 1907-Aug. 1908 Feb. 1925
Lever Nameplate from WD6DTC key "The Railroad Telegrapher",
Feb. 1925, Pg. 32
"X" Dec. 1911 Jan. 1923
"The Railroad Telegrapher", "The Railroad Telegrapher",
Dec. 1911, Pg. 376a Jan. 1923, Pg. 6
No. 4/ Aug. 1914 Dec. 1966
Blue Racer "Journal of the Telegraph", Harrison Ad.
Aug. 1914, Pg. 15 "QST", Dec. 1966, Pg. 170
Upright Nov. 1917 Feb. 1919
"Electrical Experimenter", "Telegraph and Telephone
Pg. 458 Age", Feb. 1919, Pg. 11
Midget Oct. 1918 Sep. 1920
"The Railroad Telegrapher", "The Railroad Telegrapher",
Oct. 1918, Pg. 268 Sep. 1920, pg. 358
Martin c. Jul/Aug 1920 Oct. 1939
Junior WW7P Survey "QST", Oct. 1939, Pg. 106
No. 6/ June 1927 Nov. 1980
Lightning "The Railroad Telegrapher", Tufts Ad. "73" Magazine
June 1927, Pg. 126 Nov. 1980, Pg. 163
Champion Nov. 1939 Nov. 1980
"QST", Nov. 1939, Pg. 114 Tufts Ad. "73" Magazine
Nov. 1980, Pg. 163
Zephyr Jan. 1939 1958
U.S. Pat. 2,187,351 shows WW7P Survey. Last Zephyr
a Zephyr. Filed 1/9/39 s/n: 201,928
Presentation Nov. 1948 Still in production
"QST", Nov. 1948, Pg. 138
Vibro-Keyer Jan. 1960 Still in production
"QST", Jan. 1960, Pg. 140
Iambic Dec. 1979 Still in production
"QST", Dec. 1979, Pg. 212
Brass Racer- Nov. 1982 Still in production
Iambic "QST", Nov. 1982, Pg. 162
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KEY START DATE/SOURCE STOP DATE/SOURCE
Brass Racer- Nov. 1982 Still in production
EK-1 "QST", Nov. 1982, Pg. 196
Straight Key-Nov. 1996/"QST", Nov. 1996, Pg. 201 Still in production
Most recent
Pat. Date or
Latest Pat.
Number Date Range
Aug. 9, 1904 Aug. 9, 1904 - Apr. 15, 1906
767,303
Aug. 9, 1904 Apr. 16, 1906 - Jan. 21, 1907
Others pend-
ing
Jan 22,07 Jan. 22, 1907 - Jun. 30, 1911
842,154
Jan 22, 07
Ohers pend-
ing Oct. 27, 1911 - Nov. 4, 1912
842,154
Others pend-
ing
Nov. 5, 1912 Nov. 5, 1912 - Aug. 3, 1917
1,043,449
1,043,449
Others pend- Aug. 4, 1917 - Mar. 18, 1918
ing
1,178,291 aprox. 1918 & 1919
(Boulter) WW7P Survey
1,260,008 Mar. 19, 1918 - Jul. 1920 (Start of 825 Broadway
address)
Vertical Nos. (On later keys with the Bug logo)
763,303 At top of list is wrong. This patent is for a clip
issued to Joseph A. Mayers, June 21, 1904. Correct
number should have been 767,303 issued to Horace G.
Martin, August 9, 1904
1,260,008 825 Broadway. Jul. 1920 - Feb. 12, 1923. "The
Railroad Telegrapher", Jul. 20, 1920,
Pg. 274
1,445,226 This patent number preceeded 1,260,008 plus other pat-
ents pending on Vibroplex keys.
825 Broadway. Feb. 13, 1923 (U.S. Pat. date) -
Feb. 12, 1925
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
796 Fulton. Feb. 13, 1925 - Jan. 8, 1939
"QST", Apr. 1925, Pg. 76 (Minus 2 mos
for ad to be submitted)
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Vertical Nos. Date Range
Magazine ads for period Jun. 1925 - Apr. 1941 shows
address as either:
825 Broadway
or
832 Broadway
however, all keys for this period are marked:
796 Fulton St.
1,260,008 796 Fulton St. Jan. 9, 1939 - 3-26-42 (Date on J-36 key)
Other pats - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pending
833 Broadway 3-27-42 ---1945
"Patented" 1948 - 1963 WW7P Survey
833 Broad-
way
No Pat. Nos. 1963 - 1980 WW7P Survey. New company using up
No word Pat- 833 Broadway plates between Sep. 1979-
ented 1980.
833 Broad-
way
No Pat. Nos. 1980 - Aug. 1994 WW7P Survey
No word Pat-
ented
No street
address
RED/GREEN/BLUE COLOR BASE
START/SOURCE STOP/SOURCE
Jun. 1929 "QST",Jun. 1929, Jul. 1936 "QST", Jul. 1936,
Pg. 86 Pg. 71
VIBROPLEX PATENTS
Only Vibroplex patents listed that appear as last patent num-
ber/or most recent date on the nameplate.
For a rough estimate of when your key was made, use that patent
date and the next patent’s filing date.
Patent Number Filing Date Patent Date
767,303 5/7/04 8/9/04
842,154 4/16/06 1/22/07
1,043,449 10/27/11 11/5/12
1,178,291 8/1/14 4/4/16
1,260,008 8/4/17 3/19/18
1,445,226 12/10/21 2/13/23
As I mentioned at the first of the article; this has been a
lengthy project - well over six years, quite costly, data on over
3,135 Vibroplex keys and the aid of nearly 2,000 owners.
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I want to say a special thank you to my wife, Edith, for all
her help and patience over the years.
Another who has been most helpful is Tom French, W1IMQ.
This article deals only with the dating of the keys. For much
more information on Vibroplex keys such as pictures, identification,
ads, patents, modifications within models, nameplate data, etc., I
recommend you purchase Tom French’s latest book "Vibroplex Collector’s
Guide", Revised Edition. Tom’s address is:
P.O. Box 88
Maynard, MA 01754
U.S.A.
A most heartfelt thank you to the many who furnished data on
your keys. The first draft of this article listed each of you but
it ran two and a half pages - single spaced. I’m afraid no publisher
would accept that, so this paragraph will show my appreciation for
your fine cooperation.
Now, when someone asks how old your key is, you can say, "The
birth date of my Vibroplex key is ".
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