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1910 Horace Martin Double Lever
This is a Horace Martin Double Lever Vibroplex. This particular key is quite rare in that any Horace Martin Double Lever is hard to find. But, even more so this key is quite possibly a transition prototype piece since it does not have a nameplate but has the Horace Martin Vibroplex name painted on the base. Quite possibly this key was produced sometime during the period of Martins move from Norcross Georgia to his new facility in New York. The key is all original and in great shape for being over 100 years old. This key is the most cherished key in my collection.
The pinstripe on this key is in almost perfect condition. This key was aquired from Dennis WU6X. The key was given to him back in 1970-71 by a fellow Navy sailor who said it was taken apart to be cleaned up. It was given to him in a brown bag completely unassembled. The fellow sailor indicated it was his fathers key who at the time was deceased. After reassembly, the fellow sailor told Dennis just to keep it because he was expecting it to be revamped as well. Thank goodness Dennis was not familiar with the actual time frame and history of this particular key as it may have lost its historical value had he restored it in some fashion and lost the original integrity. I will not be doing any restoration on this key either, as I have on numerous others that I have acquired. Due to the excellant condition and originality of all of the parts, it is worth much more to retain this history as it is.