Wood Bicycle Model with working Blinker Light Bars and vintage Wirewrap Board Controller.

We are pleased to present this unusual piece for your consideration.

It is a wooden model of a bicycle, with light tubes protruding in the front and back, connected to a vintage electronic controller that activates the appropriate lights when the switch on the controller is moved to the "right " or "left" position.

This item come to us from the estate of Alvy Paul Shultz (1915-2005), a gentleman that worked at North American Aviation and its successor North American Rockwell (later Rockwell International) for almost his entire working career.

He started with them in 1941 when he was in his mid-20's, and completed 35 years of service in 1976. During his career, he was involved with projects that included the S-II second stage of the Saturn V rocket (contracted to North American Aviation in September, 1961), the Apollo Command/Service Module (contracted in November, 1961), and later the XB-70a Valkyrie supersonic research aircraft (with work beginning in late 1964).

The minibox controller is aluminum and measures 5 inches by 4 inches by 3 inches. It has a single control protruding with a knob on the end of the 90 degree shaft. Simple self-stick labels read "Right" and "Left" printed in pencil.

When the control is moved to either side position, lights on the appropriate side blink in sequence.

Each light bar contains 3 separate lights which operate one at a time, with the sequence starting from the inside and moving to the outer light. The front and rear light bar are synced together, so that the lights in the same position are activated at the same time.

Inside the minibox is a vintage wirewrap board that has a few IC's and Transistors on it. It looks like 1970's or 1980's era electronics.

There are a couple of battery holders for 1.5 volt cells, although it has been a while since we installed batteries and the cell size is unknown -- probably C or AA (the installed batteries are included). The builder used white packing foam to insulate the battery holders from the wirewrap board, and we have been careful to disturb the interior as little as possible, to avoid breaking any wires or introducing any malfunctions. You may want to rework the interior of the controller to make it easier to change the batteries.

The light bars are a bit of a mystery, originally thought to be LED's based on their bright white light. With the age of the control circuit parts, it is possible that the lights are of earlier origin, and we've included a close up picture so you can make your own evaluation.

The bicycle outline is cut from wood and decorated on one side.  It has a wooden seat, and metal handlebars. A wood stand underneath the rear wheel keeps the bike upright. The bicycle is fairly large, measuring 18 inches in length (outside edge of wheel to wheel), 12-1/2 inches high (to top of the handlebar), and 9-1/2 inches wide (across the handlebar at widest point). The bicycle and controller together weigh 2 pounds 8 ounces with the included batteries in place.

Although part of Mr. Shultz's estate, we did not find any paperwork connecting him with the project. His background focused on mechanical engineering, but did include enough electronic courses to make it a possibility.  In any case, this is a fascinating vintage electronic gadget in working order, and would make a nice addition to any collection.

Condition: Working as shown in the pictures. When good batteries are in place, turning the control to the "Left" position activates the left front and rear light turning bars. Turning to "Right" activates the right front and rear light turning bars. Turning to the center position is the "off" position. The batteries have been in place for a few months, and their remaining life is unknown. Physically it is in good shape. Be careful when handling as the controller is hardwired to the bicycle and the connecting wires don't include much extra length. Be careful as well when opening and (especially) when closing the controller box, to avoid pinching any wires. All pictures show the actual bicycle and controller that you will receive.

Love and thank you from Laurence and Sally Martin! Look for them on episodes of Baggage Battles on the Travel Channel, and Storage Wars on the A&E Network.