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 Replies: 10 / Views: 734 |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
24939 Posts |
Zinc; used to operate a Dahlberg pay radio. At 17 mm, it's slightly smaller than a US dime. These tokens were used at hospitals in such states as Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Florida, California, Washington, and this single one in Louisiana. The radios must have been more widespread, with patients and their families feeding them dimes. Ville Platte, LA. Attaway Clinic and Hospital - Radio Token. 1940s. Crawford-Farber 8729-A  The following images of Dahlberg pay radios from Classic Radio Gallery. Definitely click on the radio if you visit the page! Also see Dahlberg Pillow Speaker Radio on Antique Radios - The Collectors Resource.   Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Moderator
United States
56855 Posts |
Very neat,never knew about that. John1  |
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9862 Posts |
THank you for sharing.
"Dipping" is not considered cleaning...
-from PCGS website
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Moderator
United States
187702 Posts |
Very interesting!  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
That is extremely cool, and I for one always appreciate the extra effort made to place an artifact in its historical context.
Colligo ergo sum
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
709 Posts |
I agree with Lucky Cuss: those photos of the radio add something.
Was the radio capable of accepting a dime? If those radio tokens were only a little smaller than a dime, are there accounts of people using them as slugs in vending machines?
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
24939 Posts |
Thank you all for the compliments! The information was fascinating to me, so I thought it might be of interest to the CCF.
Yes, these pay radios accepted dimes. I'm unsure how the tokens were distributed - whether they were sold or given to patients. As for using them in other vending machines, the diameter is 0.9 mm less than a dime ( 17 mm vs. 17.9 mm). Also, the weight is 1.80 g compared to 2.50 g for a dime. I'm not sure how discriminating vending machines were back then, but they probably would not accept these tokens.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5238 Posts |
I seem to recall that a token got an hour or two of radio time. If you add that up for 16 waking hours, that's quite a bit of money over the course of a month, when salaries may have been $150-$200 a month.
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Moderator
United States
187702 Posts |
Nothing like kicking a man or women when they are down.  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73688 Posts |
Very cool! Never knew that existed. Errers and Varietys.
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Replies: 10 / Views: 734 |
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Posted 02/20/2024 05:14 am
