Status: RARE with this base finish, three known in collections. Serial # 56,387, this C-1 plated Racer has the rarest of all finishes. It was called, Leatherette. I have only seen two others, and most collectors do not recognize it as original, but it is. I spoke to a 96 year old telegrapher who told me the name, and said that he had once owned one. The first owner of this bug was a woman, the wear from her fingernail on the knob stands mute evidence. The next owner was a railroad Boomer named Bill Rohde. When Bill retired, he wrote mystery stories. I have a copy of one of them titled, Murder on the Line. It is the telegraph line that is being referred to. Dash pivot is very worn, but the key still works and sports the early square cast frame.

Status: Common. This was a ship's key. It came to me through the kindness of Warren, K2UVV. it was encrusted with rust, and with the tell-tale groove worn on the pendulum where it touches the damper, worn from the vibration of the ship's screws. Since I was going to restore it, I decided to do so in the style of the rare AtoZ bugs of the time, of which only a few are known. I did it in green with the blue and gold pin-stripes. I also applied a copy of the Vibroplex decal of the time that I recreated. The key works well and makes a striking pose on the operating table.

Status: Common. My father gave me this deluxe Original, serial # 215,455, on my fifteenth Christmas. It is as new, and sports fossil ivory finger pieces.

Status: Uncommon this early. I was visitng a Pal in Wyoming, Millard KU7D, and allowed to how I collected old bugs. He went digging around in his garage and came out with this original from 1914. He said it had been used on the KATY RR in Kansas. It had been repainted flat black, but was otherwise in nice condition. Since the finish was not original, I gave it 15 coats of black lacquer and restored the gold pin-striping. I knew it once had the Albright decal, so I recreated the decal in photoshop and added it to the key. This old key operates very well, indeed.

Status: Scarce, in a blue base. This delightful and highly sought cobalt blue number 4 arrived after a career riding the rails with the Canadian Pacific RailRoad. Serial # 61,156, it is one of the earliest ""four-leaf clover"" drilled frames, replacing the earlier square style. I made finger pieces for it from African blackwood and store the original fiber ones to protect them.

Status: Uncommon. At least 125 known in collections. The so called, Martin Junior serial # 88,237, was the first antique key in my collection. It uses hardware from the "Original" on a narrow (3 inch) base. This one was special ordered by a telegrapher for his son on Christmas. It is one of only two known with chromed, not nickeled, hardware. The finger pieces shown are hand made from fossil woolly mammoth ivory. Almost like new, this is one of the best of all known specimens of this uncommon key.