What is it? Game 73

1. JoJo
   August 21st, 2008 at 7:45 am

   Early version of a sat nav system

2. gt
   August 21st, 2008 at 7:48 am

   is that what a Newton looked like?!

3. veritas88
   August 21st, 2008 at 7:52 am

   Looks to be like directions (duh!), but old (duh!), for a railroad operator/train conductor. Scrolling mechanism built into the box.

4. Brian Kern
   August 21st, 2008 at 7:53 am

   I think, based upon the metal box, its the first analog example of MapQuest. The manual scroll on the right, along with the detailed directions, put me in mind of cabdrivers or limo drivers who needed driving instructions. Though why anyone would want to go to Dayton Ohio from Cincinnati beats me.

5. anon
   August 21st, 2008 at 8:01 am

   tom tom first edition

6. nafa
   August 21st, 2008 at 8:04 am

   Perhaps a route guide for early bus/Greyhound drivers?

7. Blakesta
   August 21st, 2008 at 8:05 am

   it looks to be route information for a bus / coach service, possibly in the horse and cart days, this is now covered by route 75.

8. JBizzle
   August 21st, 2008 at 8:25 am

   This is a scroll box that was used to let people follow trails across long distances. It describes the trail in detail along with directions. A guy I know used one on his motorcycle to go from Tennessee to Oregon on a dual sport motorcycle. He didn't have the old-timey box, just the scroll, so he fab'd a box for himself.

9. Billy
   August 21st, 2008 at 8:28 am

   An early nagging device for drivers who dont have partners.

   When you miss a junction you turn the nut and it will read WHERE THE **** ARE YOU GOING NOW!!!

10. A Noun
    August 21st, 2008 at 8:39 am

    Seeing as how it mentions "trolley" numerous times, I'll wager it's a direction box for a streetcar driver.

11. anon
    August 21st, 2008 at 8:41 am

    Looks like a hoax to me.

12. DB
    August 21st, 2008 at 8:58 am

    YEAH DAYTON

    That is all.

13. hunderfund
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:11 am

    it is directions.

14. xoxota
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:14 am

    @veritas88: Directions for a railroad operator / train conductor? Shouldn't these directions then read something like:

    - 10 AM: Start the train.
    - 1 PM: Stop the train.

15. Randalll
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am

    It was a top secret spy tool for Nazi fifth columnists. By following these specific directions at a specific speed at night a flight of Gatha bombers could locate the vital rail marshaling yards in Dayton Ohio. It was discovered by Hoover himself while infiltrating a nazi spy ring disguised as torch singer in a nightclub called the the 'Lavender Lover'. Several suspected nazis were arrested and held for questioning, then later hung. Hoover got a medal from Roosevelt for his bravery and daring-do!

16. Randalll
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:19 am

    THat should have been Gotha bombers. Sorry.

17. pepper
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:48 am

    Instructions for a trolley bus driver?

18. wahberee
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:52 am

    mapquest B.C.

19. annthony
    August 21st, 2008 at 10:01 am

    reply to "randall" readinig that shit was funny as hell. lol

20. Marcy Massura-The Glamorous Life
    August 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Mapquest 1.0

21. jonno
    August 21st, 2008 at 10:17 am

    Its a very early version of a roadbook, like the riders in the paris-dakar rally use?

22. Recondomoe
    August 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Oooh it' driving me nuts, there is a name to it. It was feature recently on an automotive blog. It is a device with the routes on rolls of paper for automotive navigation.

23. meehan
    August 21st, 2008 at 10:51 am

    It's mapquest beta

24. Minnesotastan
    August 21st, 2008 at 10:54 am

    I'll bet it was used in a road rally where each car had a driver but no separate navigator.

25. Scotty A
    August 21st, 2008 at 11:07 am

    I'll wager this is an early AAA TripTik machine!

26. Kevin
    August 21st, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    Is it MapQuestTOmTom beta/1.0/etc?

    Jesus people, read the comments before you post. We don't need 19344 of the same guess.

27. Kevin
    August 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    Im guessing directions for the Pony Express.

28. Dah-veed
    August 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm

    Specifically for bicycle messengers. Looks like the bracket on the back would clamp to handlebars.

29. Minnesotastan
    August 21st, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    Found it. It's a page from the Automobile Blue Book -
    http://books.google.com/books?id=sNQNAAAAYAAJ

    page 755.

    but the mounting device is still uncertain...

30. tankhard
    August 21st, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    it a diary for a trolly driver of his route

31. Snarfixe
    August 21st, 2008 at 2:01 pm

    Way-cool, Minnesotastan! I think you and Pepper are both right. I think this might be intercity route instructions for a bus driver, maybe even a driver in training. I don't think it's for a bicycle since it's directions from Cincinnati to Dayton (which is possible but a long way for many of us). The mounting bracket on the back could easily have been attached around one of those metal bars that are everywhere inside busses. I think it was copied by some typist of ancient days from a Blue Book for Ohio specifically and put into the box on the bus. (Hey Randalll, that was great! ) Btw, folks, Navteq and TeleAtlas came before MapQuest which actually buys their databases.

32. Church
    August 21st, 2008 at 2:05 pm

    As others have mentioned, it's an early Mapquest-style set of directions. There were wrist-mountable ones (watch style). This might be a cheaper version of that, or a dash-mounted one. I can't make out the scale, but I'm leaning toward the latter one.

    Ah, my Google-Fu is still strong:
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1045114/The-1920s-satna v---weird-wonderful-gadgets-quite-took-off.html
    That looks like the higher-end Brit version of the above.

33. Tom
    August 21st, 2008 at 3:29 pm

    I would guess that it's an early version of a teletype, or a device that uses telegraph lines and automatically reads the code, reproducing the letters more quickly than a human could.

34. Woogie
    August 21st, 2008 at 6:42 pm

    An early prototype of Mapquest?

35. Dawne Le Good
    August 21st, 2008 at 6:55 pm

    Is it a kind of route plan for a hotdog vendor?

36. Gene
    August 21st, 2008 at 9:03 pm

    Early driving directions before there was AAA or maps or numbered roads.

37. Kean
    August 22nd, 2008 at 12:29 am

    This looks like the route directions that we still use when doing old school bike rallies between cities. The point is not to get to the end in the fastest time, but to get there in the most accurate time. A lot of the races required you to remove speedos and odometers, meaning that you had to guage your speed and distnace simply by using a stop watch. The times on the left of the list are indications of where you should be and when. Not sure if that is what this is for, but it does look like it. The whole damned box fits on your handle-bars and looks very out of place. But then that's just my two cents.

38. bubblesfromdayton
    September 24th, 2008 at 8:13 pm

    if that is an abandoned railroad track then I wonder if it has been turned into a bike path? just might have to check that out since it isn't that far away from home. Recognize those road names since they are still there. But what is with all that description of the grades for? It is as if a person has an challenge in the method they are using to travel this route. Today it could be a bike trail map for sure.

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