MTFCA Forum

FYI. Found a 1927 flatbed truck on e-bay with what looks like a commercially made after market accessory turn signal. looks like it might be lighted ? plastic or glass center unit. A improvement ? over the wood stick with a glove on it. See Photo attached below.

Soooo cool.

I think both are magnificent.

I can feel a project coming on. I thought my 21TT was lacking something!

Here's mine.

Try again.....

And here is mine (RHD truck). Pull down on the lever for 'right turn' or pull out the end of the lever and the 'hand' moves up to the 'stop' position too :

I have a period one with glass jewels, green facing forward and red facing back.
It is in need of MUCH work to return it to service, but some day !

Here is a neat one which I saw on a Tour in Canada in 2011.

It was a bar that went in front of the windscreen, driver moved a lever and the LEFT or Right marked ends moved out from the body.
From memory the R & L lit up. Thought I had a better photo but can't find it.

Peter, you are correct about the lights sliding out and then lighting up. It is quite a complex system.
The mechanical action is actually caused by a vacuum switch that causes a tube to slide inside another.
When it hits its outer limit, that completes an electrical circuit, and the light comes on.
I found parts of a set of one of these at the Zephyrhills swap meet in Florida.
The next summer I found the remaining parts in Spokane. Every single part I was missing was on that table.
Harry Lillo

Here’s one of my favorites. It’s on our taxi , made in California. The mounting bracket is T column shaped.

Here one that Dr. Rube Goldberg manufactured.

Here my 3 stooges model on my truck

I have that one also, Tim - was going to install it on my wife's brass Fire Chief's rig if'n I ever get it painted !

That signal that Don V. posted looks nearly identical to the one Jim D. posted. Jim's appears to be the same with the addition of an extra bracket to space it out farther from the cab, no doubt to be seen easier with a wide bed or load. MHO Dave.

Was out bid on this desirable accessory yesterday! A Birclow Auto Signal. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

That’s a neat one, paul. What did it go for? Any better pics? Isn’t it amazing , so may wacky things back then. These were common peopleS dreams to hit a home run, make it big. Most all were flops.

Anybody here remember semaphore traffic signals?

If you're an elderly person who grew up in the West you can probably whistle the tune that goes with this.

Semaphores or trafficators were much more common in Europe. Not sure of the exact history, but I believe they were standard equipment for a long time. Not real early, either. I don’t believe they ever caught on much over here, but still a neat accessory item.
I believe American ingenuity produced better turn electric bulb signal setups way back, and I have several neat examples that were model T era specific. Easy to tell by the mounting bracket. So, in my opinion, light up turn signals probably caught on pretty early in the states. That is , for people that would spend that kind of money. The vast majority would just use their own arm. JMHO

That’s a beautiful pic, Steve!

I wonder if that’s authentic or a fantasy item? Do you know?

Looks like a real one as I remember them. I think the modern signals with three lights replaced them in the early fifties, at least where I lived.

From the signs and cars I'm guessing this is looking northwest on Ventura Boulevard at Lankershim about 1940. Wikipedia claims these were retired around 1930, but I distinctly remember them after the war.

Tim , hopefully a better picture. It went for GB £ 130.00 plus the usual commissions

Here are some close ups of the vacuum signals Peter Kabel showed above. I borrowed them from this Ebay ad.
I recall two fellows returning from a Harrah's Swap Meet in the mid 60's, each with a set of them. Apparently there were quite a few sets for sale there.
A 1929 REO Flying Cloud got one set and a 1929 Erskine got the other. They were marvelous. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Early-1930s-Fo ... SwTrxfSCWH
No connection to this seller.

How can you not love this wacky stuff!

It was kind of wacky stuff wasn't it? These aren't the best photos but show how they looked.