Minifon portable wire recorder, 1950s: details and images

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1.		Overview of the recorder showing the two spools. The central spool feeds the wire out, over the record head and then onto the take-up spool (lower left). The head block (centre-right with two screws) contains the recording head, and this moves up and down to wind the wire evenly onto the take-up spool.
2.		This image shows the route taken by the wire around the recorder. The knurled wheel on the right is the volume control and the black socket in the centre is for an earphone. Wire recorders were moderately popular in Europe and the US but were superseded by open-reel tape in the late 1950s/early 1960s.
3.		The front panel of the Minifon, emphasizing its size and futuristic design. It weighed only 3.5 pounds and could record for up to five hours. The metal rod at the right-hand corner is a control mechanism, simplified for covert use of the recorder.
4.		This circular control on the front panel switched the battery power on or off.
5.		Take-up spool in close-up. The wire is secured by two oval anchors. The Minifon was developed in Germany as a portable dictation machine, but its compactness meant it could also be used for spying. To this end, the Minifon was even sold with a microphone disguised as a watch.

Rotations and views

A selection of views from the interactive rotations, to view the whole set of rotation images you can download minifon.zip (8MB) which contains all 36 images.

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