Thumper
03-08-2015, 10:25 AM
At these estate sales, I run across quite a few battery powered items that are worth some money on the collectors market (games, clocks, toys, old flashlights, etc) ... or even more modern, electrical gadgets. The FIRST thing I do is open the battery door and 9 times out of 10, the batteries had been left in them, leaked, and the device is worthless except, in some cases, can be used as a display piece only. Why is it we can't seem to build a truly leak-proof battery? Heck, I've personally experienced batteries that have started leaking before they even go bad (drained of power).
What brings this up is, I remember as a kid, there was always a message on batteries that said if your device is ruined by a leaky battery, to send it in to the battery manufacturer and they'd replace it ... or compensate you for it. What happened to those promises and why? I have a modern "Energizer" battery here on my desk and see NO guarantee regarding leakage.
Why do I ask? I ran across an old battery operated toy at a sale this weekend. Something that got stuck in the back of a closet many years ago and forgotten. I dug it out and just "KNEW" I'd find a mess behind the battery door, but couldn't believe it when I found a pristine, 1955 Eveready battery inside! Heck, the toy ... an early, crude, electronic game from the 50's which doesn't bring enough money to justify shipping ... will most likely get tossed, but believe it or not, there are old battery collectors out there and this single D-cell battery might bring $20 or so!
BUT ... referring back to my original question ... why can't we make a "leak-proof" battery in this day and age? This one, as I mentioned remembering above, has the leak-proof guaranty on the case. (hmmm, side note, I just learned something and realized both words, "guaranty" and "guarantee" passed spellcheck .. I guess it'll fly either way) Anyway, here are some pics of my "new" 60 year old battery I'll be listing it on "The Bay" later today. Looks like it just came off the shelf! It still has a 20-cents price tag from McCrory's and the date on the tag is 4/55! Finding a reference for this battery (a picture) was a bitch. It may be pretty rare as I found numerous pics of most every other design made, EXCEPT this one. I finally found it in an old magazine ad, so I'm also posting the ad I found in Collier's Magazine from October 28, 1955.
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What brings this up is, I remember as a kid, there was always a message on batteries that said if your device is ruined by a leaky battery, to send it in to the battery manufacturer and they'd replace it ... or compensate you for it. What happened to those promises and why? I have a modern "Energizer" battery here on my desk and see NO guarantee regarding leakage.
Why do I ask? I ran across an old battery operated toy at a sale this weekend. Something that got stuck in the back of a closet many years ago and forgotten. I dug it out and just "KNEW" I'd find a mess behind the battery door, but couldn't believe it when I found a pristine, 1955 Eveready battery inside! Heck, the toy ... an early, crude, electronic game from the 50's which doesn't bring enough money to justify shipping ... will most likely get tossed, but believe it or not, there are old battery collectors out there and this single D-cell battery might bring $20 or so!
BUT ... referring back to my original question ... why can't we make a "leak-proof" battery in this day and age? This one, as I mentioned remembering above, has the leak-proof guaranty on the case. (hmmm, side note, I just learned something and realized both words, "guaranty" and "guarantee" passed spellcheck .. I guess it'll fly either way) Anyway, here are some pics of my "new" 60 year old battery I'll be listing it on "The Bay" later today. Looks like it just came off the shelf! It still has a 20-cents price tag from McCrory's and the date on the tag is 4/55! Finding a reference for this battery (a picture) was a bitch. It may be pretty rare as I found numerous pics of most every other design made, EXCEPT this one. I finally found it in an old magazine ad, so I'm also posting the ad I found in Collier's Magazine from October 28, 1955.
4464 4465 4470 4467 4469 4468