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| Mills Novelty Submarine Lung Tester Image From Sales Catalog |
Don and I enjoy all types of antiques. We have always looked for rare and
interesting pieces to bring to our home and to our business. There is a fascinating coin operated item
that we would truly be thrilled to find.
Not only is this machine coin operated, but it has a nautical
theme. This machine is right up our alley!
It is a Mills Submarine Lung Tester, which is approximately
100 years old. Don has a Mills Novelty
catalog and one of the machines available in the catalog is this awesome lung
tester. Well, as usual, I was totally
excited about this wonderful piece of Americana. I instantly became curious and asked Don lots
and lots of questions.
I was extremely shocked to hear, that none of these machines
exist. At least that is the rumor! Well, this only made me ask even more
questions. Now logically, I understand
that Tuberculosis was a problem and this type of machine was an easy way to
spread diseases and illnesses. So I can
see why the machines are difficult to find.
Here were some of my initial questions. Was this machine ever manufactured? If so, how many were manufactured? If it wasn’t manufactured, why did they put
it in the catalog? Or was it a concept machine?
Did any other company try to mimic and produce a similar lung
tester? If these were manufactured, why
don’t any originals still exist? Was it
due to Tuberculosis or some other reason?
Does anyone have photos or memories of this machine being used in a
public place? If these beautiful
machines were destroyed, what was the process?
Did Mills give refunds to the customers or did the owner just have to
eat the cost?
See, all of these questions were just racing through my
mind. It just doesn’t make sense as to
why no originals exist. If we could only
go back in time!
The detailed workmanship is so amazing and the concept is
exciting. Just think of how much fun it
would be to see if you could get more divers to the surface than your
buddy. (Minus all of the possible germs
– just take that gross factor out)
The top of the machine would have said “How Many Divers Can
You Bring To The Top”. It only took a
penny and you would have a chance to blow in the tube to see if you could get
one, two, three, four or even five divers to the surface. So awesome!
The top of the machine had a detailed ocean view, with waves and
rocks. The ships are just as detailed
and they even have the American flag flying on one of the ships. The five divers are down in the ocean and
look like they are near an old shipwreck.
The divers even have the full jake.
(Helmet, suit, boots and belt) I
am so impressed with all of the realism and accuracy that Mills put into the
design of this machine. The lower part
of the machine has an image of mermaids swimming in the sea. The machine was encased in wood and had
ornate fish as an additional decoration.
It seems like no expense was spared when designing this machine.
If you happen to have an original Mills Submarine Lung
Tester, we would love to hear from you.
I truly hope that an original exists somewhere and that we can one day be
fortunate enough to look, touch and experience the machine. Or if you have any family photos or stories
about this piece of Americana, we would be so thrilled to speak with you. The search continues and may you be as
excited as we are with this mysterious and gorgeous machine. Jenny or Don can be reached at 316-371-1828 or slots@nationsattic.com
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