Radioactive Antiques -Reply

[FRAMEP@ORAU.GOV]

Mark Linsley from Brookhaven Nat Lab sent a nice note about, among
other wonderful things, a Revigator jar he had run across. As Ron
Kathren mentioned, 225 bucks is way too high, but then, the cost of
living is higher on Long Island than it is most other places. If
anyone is interested, quite a few messages were posted on this
subject a year ago. Just get into the radsafe files at UIUC and use
revigator as the key word.

As Bill Kolb mentioned, the most common color is a grey/tan. This
color I usually attribute to 1920 or so. The patent date doesn't mean
anything because that date refers to the patent for another device,
not a Revigator. The white ceramic I usually assign to 1930. There is
also a third color very rarely seen: a mottled blue or green that has
the standard cooling tower shape. The catch is that the name
Revigator appears on the bottom of the jug where it is essentially
invisible. If you find one of these, it is a real prize but be
careful - the walls are quite thin and the jar is easily broken.

There is also a small Revigator, sized and shaped like a thermos that
come in a protective tight-fitting chromed steel case. The Revigator
logo is etched into the steel. It could be taken on picnics and,
protected by its case, placed in a stream for cooling. A TRUE
TESTIMONIAL: I drove down to Atlanta last week and took it with me,
along with a bunch of other stuff  (including a box of radium
suppositories for true believers in hormesis). My brand new radiator
(325 bucks) was losing its coolant and the car overheated. I found a
tap but needed a container to carry the water to the car. Needless to
say, I used the small Revigator. On the trip back the car ran like it
was brand new. The benefits seem to be temporary however since the
car is now in the shop for repair/misrepair.

Mark, have a Merry Christmas. My worst Christmas ever, 1977, was
spent alone holed up in a shed at BNL (out by the gamma forest)
working on my motorcycle (man's best friend). 

Paul Frame
Professional Training Programs
ORISE
framep@orau.gov