Gotta Love Retro – Flying Bomb

These two batteries do not fill one with confidence that they can be used with safety. The Argus preViewer slide viewer sits behind. Love the font!

There is something very appealing about items from the past that were once an everyday item but now have no real use. I love the space age design ethic of the 1950s where mundane objects took on sleek and metallic forms.

I found a slide viewer in its original box at a car boot sale. Now some younger readers may have never seen or used such a thing but I recall turning on the little screen to suddenly see a slide appear in colour.

When I opened this one up I discovered its original batteries. These were astonishing for two reasons…

1. They had not leaked despite being over 40 years old
2. The brand name was “Flying Bomb” with a most disturbing image on the side.

Maybe I am just a little squeamish, but I don’t think these batteries would sell very well today. I am amazed they sold at the time.

I looked them up on the net and now it seems the batteries themselves are desirable collectible items on the “vintage” market. Go figure!