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Inside this display is an assortment of vacuum tubes mounted, labeled, and organized by type.
A vacuum tube is a sealed glass or metal device from which nearly all air or gas has been removed. Upon heating of the tube, the resulting vacuum facilitates the movement of electrons from a cathode (a negatively charged electrode) to an anode (a positively charged electrode) and thus creates a current that can be captured and used in switches or to amplify signals. Vacuum tubes were hidden in the guts of early electronic devices such as radio sets. (But their visual appeal was exploited in any movie that presented a mad scientist working in a laboratory!)
Vacuum tube technology was born in 1875, but the first practical vacuum tube wasn’t invented until 1904, when it was called an oscillation valve. The technology started becoming obsolete in 1947 with the invention of transistors, which had more durability, were smaller, and were more efficient. Vacuum tubes still are used in some microwave ovens and for displays on TV screens and computer monitors (the display shows some examples). They also have application in particle accelerators, broadcast transmitters, and military weaponry, among other things. And they are still popular with some electric guitar players because of the tubes’ ability to distort sound.
The original purpose of this display is unknown; it may have been created as some sort of teaching device.
