Looks like the Binford Odor Detector to me. I didn't realize Motorola had bought the rights, though. The vertical sensor mast detects hydrocarbons in the atmosphere in order to provide a scientific answer to the question, "What's that smell?"
No, no, no. There was a guy demonstrating this at the State Fair in Grand Island at a booth right between the Ginsu knives and the Popeil Pocket Fisherman. It's actually a shoe sanitizer.
Oh, my next phone was much smaller, roughly the same size a a box of Velveeta. When I got it, I marveled at how much smaller phones had become in only a few years, due to better battery tech.
My father-in-law had one like that in his Nissan pickup. It ran off the 12 volt system of his truck. He couldn't talk and drive at night or his headlights would go out! Of course, it was about half the weight-load capacity of a Nissan, too.
Ok, give us the real scoop Chief. What year did you acquire your first cell phone?? I'll bet you were carrying this thing around with you while you were still patrolling a beat.
Okay, here's the true story. Retired Lincoln police officer Gene Giles was on the phone with me last week. Towards the end of our conversation, he asked if we had any use for old cellphones. I was about to say no, when he described this bag phone. "Absolutely!," I said, "Bring that baby to me!" The experience of the Folmer and Schwing had suddenly popped into my head.
We have nice historical displays here at Headquarters. I was thinking that this is an item that we should definitely preserve, since it's the same equipment we would have been using for the Duty Commander back in about 1988 or so.
After Gene dropped this relic off, I took it over to the classroom to show the recruits in our current academy class. They were duly impressed.
How I wish I has hung onto my first Tandy computer, my original Olympus Pearlcorder, my Pulsar digital watch, Dad's genuine SX-70, and some of the other gear that I have tossed over the years. At the time, you were thinking "junk." Now, you realize just how cool it would be on the bookshelf.
I might actually use a cell phone if the old bag phone was still available. I hate the tiny Zoolander phones now. I don't use or own a cell phone. When most people learn of this, they are so shocked they can barely speak. I am happy that I will NEVER cause an auto accident because I am yapping or tapping on a cell phone. And please, no flames about "safety."
I put my coffee mug in the frame just so there would be some scale. Lots of readers have never actually seen a bag phone, so they wouldn't have any sense of it's size without something to compare it to.
I moderate comments submitted to this blog. I redact profanity, inane off-topic comments, bigoted garbage, personal attacks against others, and anything else I feel like deep sixing. I let a lot of stuff through that does not reflect my own opinion or that of the City of Lincoln or the departments I manage. If you post a comment, you never know where it will go: this is all open to the public, so post at your own risk.
15 comments:
Looks like the Binford Odor Detector to me. I didn't realize Motorola had bought the rights, though. The vertical sensor mast detects hydrocarbons in the atmosphere in order to provide a scientific answer to the question, "What's that smell?"
Ah, ye old bag phone. A blast from the past. My how the cell phone has changed.
No, no, no. There was a guy demonstrating this at the State Fair in Grand Island at a booth right between the Ginsu knives and the Popeil Pocket Fisherman. It's actually a shoe sanitizer.
It looks like my first cell phone, which was nearly as large as a loaf of bread.
Oh, my next phone was much smaller, roughly the same size a a box of Velveeta. When I got it, I marveled at how much smaller phones had become in only a few years, due to better battery tech.
My father-in-law had one like that in his Nissan pickup. It ran off the 12 volt system of his truck. He couldn't talk and drive at night or his headlights would go out! Of course, it was about half the weight-load capacity of a Nissan, too.
It's a coffee cup!
Ok, give us the real scoop Chief. What year did you acquire your first cell phone??
I'll bet you were carrying this thing around with you while you were still patrolling a beat.
9:13-
Okay, here's the true story. Retired Lincoln police officer Gene Giles was on the phone with me last week. Towards the end of our conversation, he asked if we had any use for old cellphones. I was about to say no, when he described this bag phone. "Absolutely!," I said, "Bring that baby to me!" The experience of the Folmer and Schwing had suddenly popped into my head.
We have nice historical displays here at Headquarters. I was thinking that this is an item that we should definitely preserve, since it's the same equipment we would have been using for the Duty Commander back in about 1988 or so.
After Gene dropped this relic off, I took it over to the classroom to show the recruits in our current academy class. They were duly impressed.
How I wish I has hung onto my first Tandy computer, my original Olympus Pearlcorder, my Pulsar digital watch, Dad's genuine SX-70, and some of the other gear that I have tossed over the years. At the time, you were thinking "junk." Now, you realize just how cool it would be on the bookshelf.
It's a wireless brick!
I might actually use a cell phone if the old bag phone was still available. I hate the tiny Zoolander phones now. I don't use or own a cell phone. When most people learn of this, they are so shocked they can barely speak. I am happy that I will NEVER cause an auto accident because I am yapping or tapping on a cell phone. And please, no flames about "safety."
Is that coffee mug the latest design, or was it a contemporary of the bag phone?
11:32-
What? No cell phone? How do you tweet?
12:39-
I put my coffee mug in the frame just so there would be some scale. Lots of readers have never actually seen a bag phone, so they wouldn't have any sense of it's size without something to compare it to.
How do we know that coffee mug isn't one of those gallon-sized refillables you can get at the quickie mart?
I think you need a new coffee mug...it looks a little worn. Maybe it should go in the museum too.
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