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Just a point of interest here. Over the past weekend I travelled to Columbus, New Mexico (extreme SW corner of NM - 3 miles from the international border), where I visited the town and museums. This is the town in which Fort Furlong and the surrounding community was attacked by Pancho Villa and his murderous lot of soldiers in March of 1916. General "Blackjack" Pershing brought troops from Ft. Bliss (near El Paso Texas) and led an (11) month excursion, which penetrated (500) miles in search of Villa. Villa escaped but the excursion proved helpful for the Army, in that, it began to prepare them for the USA's mobilization & entrance into WWI in Europe.

Anyway, while at the museum, I saw a very small device labeled "Packard Motor Car Company - Detroit". It was found in the rubble and decay of the train station that later became the museum I visited. The device was very small, and it 'looked' like or was shaped like a very small version of those old antique radios that families once listened. The device was green in color and it measured, I estimate 5"h x 3"w x 2"d. When I spoke to the curator, he thought that the Army had brought many Packard trucks to the area during the time the excursion was mounted, but he wssn't sure? Unfortunately, I didn't have a good camera, just my cell telephone. (I retain a lousy pic on the telephone which I'll try and get put onto a computer)

Just curious now, has anyone ever heard of such a small portable charging made by Packard? Also, I did see many pictures of the Army trucks, but being a 55-56 Packard guy, I couldn't determine if any of the truck were of Packard manufacture.

Something that small would sure be interesting to know what exactly it did. Don't believe the technology of the day would have allowed for much more than a resistor in a case that size--certainly not a transformer & rectifier tubes.

If they did make chargers, they had apparently stopped before the 9th series. There is a technical service letter talking about batteries and maintaining them. In the letter it instructs dealers to have the customer buy a charger if they wished to keep the battery "topped off" during periods of disuse. Said there were several from reputable companies in a similar price range and therefore wouldn't recommend any specific models.

Are you sure it was electrical? Could it have been a compressor?

Have no idea what the gizmo is but, just as a footnote on the Punitive Expedition into Mexico after Villa, you are correct in that it helped prespare the U.S. (within the anti-war, somewhat pacifist, anti-military context of the Wilson administration) for its entry into The Great War in 1917. From all that I have ever read and some personal stories remembered from my youth, the War Department was intent upon motorizing the Army. General Pershing and some of his staff were evidently of the opinion that, with a proper compliment of horse cavalry, they could've probably run down Villa. It is my understanding that there were Garford trucks broken down all over Sonora and that one of the results of the Punitive Expedition was to firmly convince the Army of the superiority of Packard trucks for operation in hostile landscapes. Although Pershing and his senior staff found the small air compliment assigned to them extremely useful, I do not believe that they were overly impressed with the trucks with which they were supplied by the War Department.

Kevin,
The device is a battery charger, although WWI might be a little early for it. I attached a picture of one I have.
John

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Interesting!! Made for Packard but I'm impressed & intrigued by the size. Has to be late 20's era if mfg stopped making them for Packard by 9th series--also the rubber cord & 2 prong plug instead of cloth cord interesting--is there a patent plate or any idea when. Can you see inside or have you had it open? There's a transformer but rated at 4A DC, has to be some kind of rectifier too. Tubes were still pretty big in the 20's so really am curious if there is one or if selenium rectifier in use by then--which also was not tiny. Am totally amazed at the size needless to say. If they could make a charger that small why were radios so big as to need 2-3 enclosures in a car or large box in a house.

No vacuum tubes, has a selenium rectifier, The power cord may be original as it is rubber covered and dry and coming apart, the cord with alligator clamps has been replaced at some time. I have not opened it as I don't want the little tabs that hold it together to break off.
John

hey guys......really neat stuff. And yes, that is exactly what I saw in the museum! Very, very cool! I think I'll email the curator and update him a bit with what you all have discovered! Wow!

KevinAZ
Tucson

The same charger is shown in the 1937 Six and 120 accessories brochure that is on this website.

That would make a lot more sense with the size & rubber cord. Since they were instructing dealers to have customers buy third party for the 9th-10th series, they must have seen an opportunity in having their own brand to sell by the mid 30's. Wonder if that was something introduced along with the 120.