Telegraph collector and historian Lynn Burlingame (N7CFO) once observed that in the key collecting hobby "we have a lot of accumulators out there, and few collectors." What is a collector? Vicki Moeser, writing for the Smithsonian News Service, has said "A collector is much more than an accumulator. Collecting involves learning as much as possible about the commodity -- including manufacturers and periods during which the object was produced -- and then acquiring representative pieces." (Antiques and Collectibles, September 1992, p. 11)
I think that over the years since Lynn's statement, more accumulators have been focusing their activities and become true collectors. This trend has been helped by the increasing amount of information available on the manufacturers and the era in which the instruments were used. The books on our pages, John Casales' (W2NI) Key and Telegraph column in the AWA Journal and his telegraph-history.org website, Russ Kleinman's zianet.com/sparks/ website, and many other books, articles and websites have provided a tremendous informational resource for collectors..
So an accumulator becomes a collector by learning about his "objects of desire." But there is one more requirement -- specialization. By concentrating his (or her) collecting in one area, not only can he focus his research but also the quantity of instruments he searches for and displays. Limited display shelf space is the bane of all collectors -- and the number of keys you have will expand to fill all of your shelves!
So... what to specialize in? If you have not already decided, here are some suggestions.
Large specialties. "Landline instruments," for example, is a vast field. You can acquire thousands of instruments and never run out of items to search for. "Semi-automatic keys" (bugs) is not as broad, but consists of hundreds of instruments made since the inventions of Coffe and Martin. Other large specialties might be spark-era keys (see Russ Kleinman's "Spark Key Project" on his website).
Vibroplex keys, the bugs made by Horace Martin, beginning with his 1905 Original. All of the models and variations present a challenge, especially since some of the models (Upright, Midget) and variations (green based bugs) are scarce. Collecting just one representative example ( as Vicki Moeser suggests) of a limited area -- say, the six models available in the 1940s -- is easily accomplished, the challenge being to acquire mint examples.
J-38 keys. A narrow specialty, you might think. An example of the training key used by the Signal Corps during WWII is easily found -- but obtaining one made by every manufacturer during (and after) the war can be difficult. In fact, a complete list of all of the makers is probably unknown, as new ones appear from time to time. And identifying the maker of some is not easy, since most are unmarked. Finally, adding the maker's variations to your collection increases the challenge.
Paddles. The modern key. There are single-lever paddles and iambic (two-lever) paddles. From the first commercial paddle in 1959 (the El-Key; the first iambic was the 1962 Nikey), there are dozens waiting to be collected. Many are common and manufactured today, others (the FYO paddles, for example) are scarce and very collectible.
Combination keys. Many companies from the mid-1960s on up offered two keys -- usually a hand key and a paddle -- on a common base. These make a good looking and useful item for the ham radio operating desk. And some, like the Brown Brothers CSA (a hand key and bug combination offered in the mid-1960s), are rare and collectible.
You may only want one special key -- not a collection, yet a key that may take you some time to find. Perhaps it's a gray-based Vibroplex Zephyr made in 1956, one like your first ham radio bug that you sold years ago. Or maybe a Vibroplex J-36 with an order date on the nameplate of June 27 1942 -- your birthday; now that would be special.
No matter what you decide to collect, I hope this page has given you some ideas, and that our other pages help you in your search for information and instruments.
Tom French, W1IMQ