Description: Vintage Pneumatic stethoscope headphones. In the mid-1950s, Rhode Island-based AVID Products Inc (named after the acronym for Audio-Visual Instruction Device) was a manufacturer of audio products and had added a new airline division making passenger control units. AVIDs president and CEO, explains: In 1961 Trans World Airlines -TWA approached AVID and said, Hey, weve got this crazy idea. What do you think about collaborating on building a headset for airline passengers? At the time nobody was doing anything like that. In those days before cheap, electronic headsets, AVID designers took inspiration from a medical stethoscope and created the pneumatic headset. Two hollow, flexible plastic tubes were fitted with soft earpieces and attached to a hard plastic yoke that hung below a passengers chin. The end of the tubes had a connector that plugged into the armrest, where a small speaker and volume control unit was hidden. At one time, when pneumatic was the only option, we had a 97% market share, Twist says. The headsets were identical airline to airline, but in the yoke was a blank space that could be molded with the individual airlines logo. Pneumatic headsets were used through the 1960s and 70s, but IFE technology changed with 1979 introduction of the Sony Walkman portable, audio cassette player.
Price: 10.68 USD
Location: Asheboro, North Carolina
End Time: 2025-01-10T16:18:08.000Z
Shipping Cost: 6.25 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Type: Headphones
Airline: TWA
Country/Region of Manufacture: China
California Prop 65 Warning: NA
