This is a trumpet-shaped horn standing upright on a black cylinder affixed to a wooden base. The horn is made of metal, conical, and vertical until near the end where it turns at roughly a right angle and flares more sharply. The more flared section is formed of a different metal panel to the rest of the horn.
The horn fits into a female tube connector on the top of a metal cylinder. Removing the horn reveals a grating.
This is affixed vertically to a rectangular wooden base. Wires emerge from the side of the cylindrical section and disappear into the wood base. Next to this, there is a rectangular metal cover. Next to this, two electrical connection posts sitting on a rectangular plate of bakelite. There are two silver electrical connectors, both labelled “B”, at the other of the base.
Accession Number: 2019.ast.226
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Metal: Iron Alloy, Wood.
Stamped into the top of the cylinder and on top of the metal box: “MAGNAVOX”
On a metal label affixed to the cylinder: “RADIO MAGNAVOX
PATENTED U.S.A.
TYPE R3 MODEL A NO. 1024
THE MAGNAVOX CO.
OAKLAND CALIFORNIA”
Dimensions (cm): Height = 60, Width = 18.1, Length = 21.
The production and amplification of electrically transmitted sound.
Very Good: The surface of the metal horn is in very good condition, with only very small marks and scratches. However, the two halves of the horn are coming apart slightly where the horn begins to curve. The surface of the metal box is more worn, particularly around the corners. There are some deposits on the surface of the black cylinder. The metal label and enameled lettering on the wooden base are worn and damaged.
Associated Instruments:
Manufacturer: The Magnavox Co., Oakland California
Date of Manufacture: Early 1920s
This speaker predates the Dunlap Observatory and may have been part of the Observatory’s original equipment. Following its arrival there, it was kept at the David Dunlap Observatory until 2009. Upon the sale of the Observatory, it was moved to the University of Toronto’s Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the St George Campus. In 2017 it was moved to a new storage location in McLennan Physical Laboratories.
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