Gray Manufacturing Company (Telephones)
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Product Details
Gray Manufacturing Company
Certificate Type
Common Stock
Date Issued
1950's, 1960's and 1970's
Canceled
Yes
Printer
E. A. Wright Bank Note Company
Signatures
Machine printed
Approximate Size
12" (w) by 8 1/2" (h)
Additional Details
NA
Historical Context
This Hartford, Connecticut based company was originally known as the Gray Telephone Pay Station Company. The name was changed to the Gray Manufacturing Company on February 19, 1939. The company eventually went bankrupt on September 14, 1976.
The Gray Manufacturing Company made the Audograph (a dictation machine) after World War II. It recorded on thin vinyl discs. One interesting technical feature of the Audograph was its ability to vary the disc's rotational speed continuously, depending on the location of the recording/playback stylus. By spinning the disc faster when the stylus was in the outer grooves, the machine allegedly made better recordings.
A Gray Audograph played in important part in the investigation of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. On the day of the assassination the Dallas Police Department (DPD) operated two radio channels. Channel I was for normal police radio traffic and channel II was assigned for the use of the presidential motorcade. Each channel was recorded by a different device. Channel I was recorded on a Dictabelt and channel II on a Gray Audograph. Both machines worked by engraving a track into a plastic medium. The Dictabelt used a rotating cylinder and the Audograph used a flat disk, similar to a phonograph record. Both machines were transmission actuated. The recordings were poured over for years, but never served to provide any additional information to identify the number of shots fired that fateful day.
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Additional Information
Certificates carry no value on any of today's financial indexes and no transfer of ownership is implied. All items offered are collectible in nature only. So, you can frame them, but you can't cash them in!
All of our pieces are original - we do not sell reproductions. If you ever find out that one of our pieces is not authentic, you may return it for a full refund of the purchase price and any associated shipping charges.