Identifying An Old Key

I acquired this morse key about 25 years ago. A few years ago Bob VE3DUB (SK) made a nice oak base for it and put a knob on it. At that time he told me it was a very rare key. There are two marks on it – the initials GNW and 1795 – as seen below.

Not sure if any of my readers can identify it. I’ve spent a good deal of time on Google trying to datamine information about it.

Links:

Radio Telegraphy Net

J.H. Bunnell and Co. Telegraph Apparatus

Straight Key Century Club (SKCC)

Morsemad G0RDO

KT5X Morse Code Key Collection

J-38 Telegraph Keys used by the US Army Signal Corps

I'm not an avid key collector. If I come across something interesting I usually go for it if the price is right. I found this Lionel J-38 key at the large flea market just north of Morrisburg on Hwy. 31 (Bank Street). I'd seen it a week before I bought it but the seller wanted way too much for it. The following weekend I went down again but he was nowhere to be seen since it was one of our 'rainy' type weekends. Well three weeks later I went down with a friend who did the haggling for me since I didn't want to show up again drooling over that key and him not budging from his price. I eventually brought it home for $35CDN.

Now was research time - I had done a bit of research during that first week but looking again at all the Google hits I realized that this was one of the rarest J-38 keys manufactured by the Lionel Corporation of N.Y. The full name of the Lionel company was engraved just below the knob on the base. Now the key is not perfect but a little cleaning will bring it all back to an acceptable 'shack' showpiece condition.

In the coming weeks I'll showcase a few more finds. My collection isn't huge but I do have some interesting keys. Bob Ellis, VE3DUB (Dirty Uncle Bob), now a silent key, got me interested after seeing his collection way back in 2002 - here's a photo of Bob and his collection and his ham station.

More than you ever wanted to know about J-38 keys.