Hytron Handy Tube Tapper
Electronics companies, such as Hytron Handy, developed tube tappers like the one seen here. These little hammers served several purposes. The tool, as the name suggests, was used to tap hytron vacuum tubes. These tubes were the basis of most electronic devises in the early twentieth century, such as televisions and radios. By tapping on the tubes, television repairmen or the average person could locate where the tube was “microphonic.” As one 1940s advertisement put it, the “novel and useful tool locates elusive, intermittent shorts.”
These tube tappers were sold by several different broadcasting companies. The small hammer advertised the company in a fun and practical manner. The tappers were colorful and could also be sharpened and used as a pencil, with the hammer head being made of erasers.
Microphonic (mī • krә • fä • niks) noun plural – describes an incident when a vacuum tube component alters the vibrations being emitted into an undesired form
