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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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1st Jan 2019, 4:05 pm | #1 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK.
Posts: 60
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Ekco oddities
Sorry these are not electrical or technological items in the strictest sense, but as a tenuous link to All Things Ekco here are a couple on of interesting items. One is what I assume to be a desl-top cigarette case, which came from the old Ekco works at Southend. I often wonder if this once sat on the desk of Mr E. K Cole himself - but who knows now?? I guess that this very hard plastic box was made at the Southend factory (it's were it came from) and wonder if there are any more. It measures 6 3/4 inches by 3 1/2 inches and is about 2 inches tall.
The next item certainly had more than one made. It is one of a pair of Ekco cufflinks. I imagine they were some kind of rep's trinket given to dealers etc or maybe to the staff at the factory as a Christmas gift. Again I have no idea re this so if anyone does know I would be delighted to be enlightened. |
1st Jan 2019, 5:52 pm | #2 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Durham, County Durham, UK.
Posts: 826
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Re: Ekco oddities
I really like those cufflinks, I have an EKCO screwdriver with fuse wire inside, no idea of the date but maybe a promotional item.
John |
1st Jan 2019, 6:01 pm | #3 |
Pentode
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 139
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Re: Ekco oddities
What other moulded plastic household items did EKCO continue to turn out after the bottom had largely fallen out of the UK wireless market?
I distinctly remember my parents having a EKCO branded moulded toilet seat in the 80s (probably bought in the late 70s)
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"Broken we can fix, cr*p is a design issue" |
1st Jan 2019, 6:04 pm | #4 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Aug 2016
Location: Colchester, Essex, UK.
Posts: 4,108
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Re: Ekco oddities
A sniff test might tell you if it is a cigar case.
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1st Jan 2019, 6:17 pm | #5 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Near Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 3,622
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Re: Ekco oddities
We had an Ekco Plastics toilet seat and I remember school stools made by the same firm, with metal frames and moulded plastic seats/back rests. I also have some “Tupperware” style food containers made by the same firm. The Ekco Plastics company continued for several years after the Philips takeover of the Pye group in 1967, but was later sold off.
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1st Jan 2019, 8:41 pm | #6 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK.
Posts: 60
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Re: Ekco oddities
Hi, I'm not sure that it has ever been used to be honest. When my father first had it it was in pieces with the lid off and when fitted together (the lid hinges are a "snap" fit into the body like the old cassette player "doors" were) the lid fouled the plastic insert so careful filing and fiddling about was required. It now serves as a jewellery box for my wife.
Also I remember Ekco Plastics used to make car bumpers as I used to see them stacked in crates by one of the factory gates - probably in the late 70s I think. My mother had some of the plastic cups and saucers (and they very modern-looking for the time). Their chunkiness, the way they stacked inside each other and the fact that they were plastic always reminded me of Lego somehow. Very "Space 1999"! Wish I had the missing cufflink..... Last edited by dryjoint; 1st Jan 2019 at 8:49 pm. Reason: added comment re Ekco Plastics |
1st Jan 2019, 11:56 pm | #7 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK.
Posts: 5,554
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Re: Ekco oddities
For odd Ekco oddities how about a radiation counter?
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2nd Jan 2019, 8:20 am | #8 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Near Swindon, North Wiltshire, UK.
Posts: 3,622
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Re: Ekco oddities
Ekco Electronics also made speed measuring equipment and British Rail used such a device to check train drivers weren’t exceeding line speeds. It came with a tuning fork to check calibration.
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2nd Jan 2019, 9:42 am | #9 |
Nonode
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Hull, East Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 2,087
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Re: Ekco oddities
The Kodak Brownie Cresta 3 was moulded for Kodak by Ekco.
I was attracted to it because it took 12 shots on a 120 roll, rather than 127, which is obsolete. Also, it didn't use Kodak's own '620' film size. |
2nd Jan 2019, 12:29 pm | #10 |
Pentode
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Brightlingsea, nr. Colchester, Essex, UK.
Posts: 209
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Re: Ekco oddities
We have a couple of these table heaters of a type often seen in Indian restaurants, one cream and one magenta.
IIRC our previous pressure cooker was an Ekco, of a pattern later made by Prestige. Bryan |
3rd Jan 2019, 12:02 pm | #11 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 4,203
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Re: Ekco oddities
That would have been a Philips toilet seat by then, and they actually made those as well. Of course, EKCO could have started this diversifying before or independent of the Philips era or even before the Pye era.
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6th Jan 2019, 10:11 pm | #12 |
Octode
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Rayleigh near Southend-On-Sea, Essex, UK.
Posts: 1,883
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Re: Ekco oddities
Hi,
Another Ekco oddity...... It’s a Distortion and output meter made my Ekco Avionics – I’m not entirely sure if it was a piece of production test equipment or was sold as a piece of commercial equipment? Up until the site of the Ekco factory became a housing estate (sigh) the remnants of Ekco plastics was trading as the moulding company Linpac Automotive. I often wonder what interesting Ekco oddities might lurk in the lofts of the houses in the Southend area – you never know a prototype green AD65 case Regards Terry |
7th Jan 2019, 12:05 am | #13 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire, UK.
Posts: 9,643
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Re: Ekco oddities
I'm sure I remember advertisements for Ekco Radar, probably in WW, which would tie in with the Avionics.
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7th Jan 2019, 1:15 am | #14 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,349
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Re: Ekco oddities
A college who had worked for Ekco at Southend in the 1970's said that, at the time he left they were in effect manufacturing government surplus equipment. It was the tail end of a contract for equipment that had become obsolete. After manufacture and full testing to specification, the goods were delivered and promptly sold off at auction for a fraction of their cost without ever having been used.
Last edited by emeritus; 7th Jan 2019 at 1:20 am. |
7th Jan 2019, 1:24 am | #15 |
Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fife, Scotland, UK.
Posts: 22,902
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Re: Ekco oddities
Toilet seat... lends a whole new meaning to "Round Ekco"
David
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7th Jan 2019, 10:16 am | #16 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Southport, Merseyside, UK.
Posts: 646
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Re: Ekco oddities
A toilet seat might make a conversation piece as a bezel around a 15" bass driver.
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7th Jan 2019, 11:24 am | #17 |
Hexode
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Oswestry, Shropshire, UK.
Posts: 408
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Re: Ekco oddities
I have the following Ekco-branded/related items/oddities:
- two stand-up cardboard point-of-sale adverts - the plate for a newspaper advert - the destination blind for the Ekco Works from the Southend tram - Ekco microphone Regards, Richard |
10th Jan 2019, 11:44 pm | #18 |
Heptode
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK.
Posts: 693
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Re: Ekco oddities
I never noticed the Ekco logo on my 'Belvedere' toilet seat until my Dad came round and recognised it on a visit to the smallest room. Unfortunately the hinges have rusted away so it's been replaced with a much inferior product. It has been stored away safely and I hope to return it to use in the future.
'Novaware' was the brand name of the stacking tableware. SR |
11th Jan 2019, 10:23 pm | #19 |
Tetrode
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK.
Posts: 60
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Re: Ekco oddities
I really like that Ekco microphone. I assume it no longer works.
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13th Jan 2019, 11:16 am | #20 |
Heptode
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Kinver, Staffordshire, UK.
Posts: 634
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Re: Ekco oddities
My mother has got a plastic bucket made by ekco and I believe it was purchased in the 1960`s.
Robin |