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Cervical cap

Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Contraception

1950-1960

Black plastic cervical cap, 1950-1960

Pye Band III converter, type F124, 1955-1960

Radio Communication

1955-1960

Pye Band III converter, type F124, made by Pye Limited, East Anglia, England, 1955-1960

Models of three wooden prisms used by Heinrich Hertz, 1949

Radio Communication

1949

Models (scale 1:4) of three wooden prisms used by Heinrich Hertz, made by the Science Museum Workshops, South Kensington, London, England, 1949

Pair of climbers for climbing telegraph poles

Signalling & Telecommunications

1948

Pair climbers for climbing telegraph poles; made at Doncaster Works for J.H. Borrett from "Flying Scotsman" tyre steel in 1948; steel bar with silver steel points, leather straps and pads.

Model of plane zinc reflector used by Heinrich Hertz, 1949

Radio Communication

1949

Model (scale 1:4) of plane zinc reflector used by Heinrich Hertz, made by the Science Museum Workshops, South Kensington, London, England, 1949.

Replicas of Alexander Graham Bell's 1879 'Patent Office' telephone, 1959

Telecommunications

1959

Replica of Bell's 'Patent-office' telephone of 1876, made by Science Museum Workshops, South Kensington, London, England, 1959

Panel 1 unit from EDSAC1, 1946-1958

Computing & Data Processing

1946-1958

An example of the unit known as panel 1 from the electronic computer EDSAC 1, designed by Maurice Wilkes and built at the University of Cambridge Mathematical Laboratory, Cambridge, England, 1946-1958.

Transistorized audio-frequency telephone line amplifier, 1954

Telecommunications

1954

Transistorized audio-frequency telephone line amplifier, probably designed and made at the Post Office Research Centre at Dollis Hill, London, England, 1954.

Transistorized audio-frequency telephone line amplifier, 1953

Telecommunications

1953

Transistorized audio-frequency telephone line amplifier, probably designed and made at the Post Office Research Centre at Dollis Hill, London, England, 1953.

Upper denture set, acrylic

Dentistry

1955-1965

Upper denture set, acrylic, for demonstration purposes, English, 1955-1965

telephone pole finial

Telecommunications

c.1960

Aluminium finial for telephone pole, made in around 1960.

Festival Pattern Group Wallpaper

Experimental Chemistry

1951

Large hand screen-printed wallpaper sample in grey, lilac and black with Insulin 8.27 pattern, crystallographer Dorothy Hodgkin, designer William J. Odell, made by John Line and Sons Ltd. Design was in production in 1951 and was used in the Regatta Restaurant. From a collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Tenon saw, 1950s.

Hand and Machine Tools

1950-1960

Tenon saw, 1950s.

"Record no.6" plane with instructions leaflet

Hand and Machine Tools

1950-1960

"Record no.6" plane with instructions leaflet

Otis King's calculator

Handling Collection

1960

Otis King's calculator (type C) with instruction leaflet, made by Carbic Ltd, 1960.

Coaxial cable, twelve pairs, 1950-1969

Telecommunications

1950-1969

Cable containing twelve coaxial pairs each capable of carrying one television channel, of 960 unidirectional telephone channels (two pairs used to provide for 960 two-way conversations), sheathed with lead alloy to General Post Office specification, unknown maker, 1950-1969

Penguin book, 'The Napolean of Notting Hill', by G

Domestic Appliances

1946

Penguin book, 'The Napolean of Notting Hill', by G. K. Chesterton (first published 1904). First Penguin, this edition 1946. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. Made and printed in Great Britain for Penguin Books Limited by Wyman and Sons Ltd., London, Fakenham and Reading.

Stadiometer

Psychology, Psychiatry & Anthropometry

1965

Stadiometer, 1965.

Telescopic 'dressing sticks'

Orthopaedics

1968

Two telescopic 'dressing sticks', designed for use by completely armless (amelic) people or those with very short arms (phocomelia), with an S-shaped tip which can be located in a trouser zip, held in the mouths of amelic people, or in the hands or people with short arms, also used to pull-up trousers and tuck-in shirt tails, originally made from a telescopic car aerial and stethoscope tubing, originally designed by Dr. Ian Fletcher in 1959, modifed by Steeper c. 1968.

wire recorder

Sound Reproduction

c.1950

Wire recorder made by Webster Chicago Corporation, Chicago, c.1950.

Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) simulator, 1950

Computing & Data Processing

1950

Slow-speed relay operated simulator of the National Physical Laboratory's automatic computing engine (ACE), by the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, England and components by Bosch, Germany, 1950

Fire bucket

Telecommunications

1961

Fire bucket made by British Small Arms Co. Ltd, Birmingham, 1961.

Bottle of "Shampoo 88", French style shampoo. 1950

Domestic Appliances

1950-1959

Bottle of "Shampoo 88", French style shampoo. 1950s.

Haemoglobin 8.26, Festival Pattern Group silk tie fabric

Experimental Chemistry

1950-1951

Sample of jacquard-woven tie silk, red, black and gold (yellow), based on Max Perutz's crystallography, haemoglobin 8.26, nested hexagonal motif surrounded by circles, designed by George Reynolds, made by Vanners & Fennell Bros. Ltd, Sudbury, Suffolk, England, 1950-1951. Based on the X-ray crystallographic pattern of the haemoglobin molecule. From a collection of 83 samples designed for the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Electron Density Map of Myoglobins, 3D Representation, 1957

Experimental Chemistry

1957

Perspex electron density map of a myoglobin molecule, a three-dimensional representation, to a resolution of 6Ä [Angstrom unit] comprising 16 sheets, c. 1957

Coaxial cable sample, 1948-1967

Telecommunications

1948-1967

Telescoped sample of long-distance coaxial cable "KxFk 32 b 1 W cu" (telescoped sample), made by Telefunken, Germany, 1948-1967. Corrugated metal sheathed cable.

Portable transistor radio receiver

Radio Communication

1958-1963

Portable transistor radio receiver, c.1960.

LP `Mister Rock `N' Roll', Bill Haley and the Come

Domestic Appliances

1969

LP `Mister Rock `N' Roll', Bill Haley and the Comets. Ember Records, EMB 3041. Distributed by Pye Record (Sales) Ltd. First issue, 1969

Box of 'Kudos' pure soap flakes, unopened, with co

Domestic Appliances

c. 1950

Box of 'Kudos' pure soap flakes, unopened, with contents, by Boots Pure Drug Co. Ltd. c. 1950.

Cumfifolda folding push chair, manufactured 1960

Road Transport

1960

Cumfifolda folding push chair, manufactured 1960

Book, entitled 'The Impregnable Women'

Domestic Appliances

1959

Book, entitled 'The Impregnable Women', by Eric Linklater (first published by Jonathan Cape, 1958). First Penguin, this edition 1959. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex. Made and printed in Great Britain for Penguin Books Limited by Wyman and Sons Ltd., London, Fakenham and Reading.

Telsa T65H telephone, 1950-1967

Telecommunications

1950-1967

T65H telephone handset, made by Tesla, Czechoslovakia, 1950-1967

Hopper, lady's bicycle, 21 1/2" frame, 1948.

Road Transport

1948

Hopper, lady's bicycle, 21 1/2" frame, 1948.

Triumph, lady's bicycle, 21 1/2" frame, 1958.

Road Transport

1958

Triumph, lady's bicycle, 21 1/2" frame, 1958.

Fuel Injection Section

Aircraft Propulsion

1958

Fuel Injection Section of Bristol Siddeley ' Thor ' Ramjet, 1958.

Oxygen failure warning device for use with anaesthetic machine

Anaesthesiology

1955-1965

"Bosun" oxygen failure warning device, by British Oxygen Company Ltd., 1955-1965

Gutta-percha bottle, with stopper

Plastics and Modern Materials

c. 1950

Gutta-percha bottle, with stopper, used for containing hydrofluoric acid, 267mm height, used by the V&A conservation department

Concorde prototype aircraft

Aeronautics

1969

British Aircraft Corporation/Aerospatiale Concorde prototype aircraft, Serial no. 002, G-BSST

Sample packs of 'Ovulen' oral contraceptive pills

Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Contraception

1966-1968

Practitioner's sample packs, 2 of 3, each containing 2 pill packets of combined monophasic early contraceptive pills, 'Ovulen', varying dates, made by G D Searle and Co, Chicago, Illinois, USA, and prepared by G D Searle & Company Limited, High Wycombe, England, 1966-1968

Service by night

Railway Posters, Notices & Handbills

1955

Poster, Service by Night, by David Shepherd. Shows a train leaving King's Cross station at night, passing signal gantries set against a smoky and cloudy sky. Produced by British Railways, printed by Waterlow and Sons Ltd, London and Dunstable, 1955, quadroyal format, 1010 mm x 1270 mm.

Model composite brake carriage, British Railways

Railway Models

1960

Model railway carriage, 1/24 scale, British Railways Mark I corridor composite brake, crimson/cream livery, prototype built 1951, model by Shawcraft, Iver, Bucks, c.1960.

Imperial 66 typewriter, 1960-1961

Printing & Writing

1960-1961

Imperial 66 typewriter serial no. 6F33013, 1960-1961. The spools on the sides are for typing onto a tape. Serial number 6F33013 dates this typewriter to 1960-1961.

Conical fire extinguisher, model 4B

Firefighting

1967

Conical fire extinguisher, model 4B, water type/soda acid, polythene lined (?), by Minimax, Feltham, Middlesex, Patent 846101, BSS 138, FOC No 24/2P, capacity 2 gallons, with bracket

"Recordon" magnetic disc recorder by Thermionic Products, c. 1949

Sound Reproduction

1949

"Recordon" magnetic disc recorder by Thermionic Products, London, c. 1949. Serial number W307911.

Aldis Minor slide projector

Cinematography

1953

Aldis Minor projector. For 2 x 2 inch slides. 100w, 240v, A1 lamp prefocus. With three condenser lenses and mirror. Helical focusing movement. coated Petzval type projection lens. Two elevating screws. With bulb and 2-pin plug; plug stamped Clix Patent Made in England.

Mummy of a peregrine falcon, Egypt, 2000-1001 BCE

Classical & Medieval Medicine

2000-1001 BCE

Mummy of peregrine falcon, Egyptian, 2000-1001 BC

Weston Master III exposure meter

Photographic Technology

1959

Weston Master III exposure meter, 1959. Made by Sangamo-Weston Ltd, Enfield. Model No. s141.3. Photoelectric meter, two scales. Dial type calculator ASA speed .3-5000. Perforated baffle for high light levels (broken). Invercone attachment with filter for high light levels. No. B 7316.

Model, one of two, made by Dorothy M. Crowfoot Hodgkin

Biotechnology

1967

Model, one of two, made by Dorothy M. Crowfoot Hodgkin c.1967, to show the structure of 2 zinc pig insulin crystals at a resolution of 2.8A

Bauer Mini S cine camera

Cinematography

1966-1968

Bauer Mini S cinecamera. Cine camera for Super 8 film magazines; Schneider Xenoplan lens F:15mm f/1.8. Auto exposure - cell operates aperture directly; needle visible in DV optical finder. Electric motor drive. This camera was in production from 1966-1968. The followed on from the Mini of 1966-1967. The only difference seems to have been the lens.

Mangle (wringer) attachment for 'Hotpoint' brand

Domestic Appliances

1950-1955

Mangle (wringer) attachment for 'Hotpoint' brand washing machine, made by Associated Electrical Industries Limited, British, 1950-1955.