Originally Posted By: CANOEDOGS
Wow..that was a great bit of history.i remember back in the 50's when as a kid i would see bins of those still in the wrap at the local surplus store.


Yes, according to some 1946 Congressional testimony, over 1,000,000 were ordered in WWII, so I imagine there was quite a surplus glut after the war. I think I've even seen a 1950's survival book suggest picking one up.

Here's an ad in the Sept 1946 Popular Mechanics (top right corner) advertising surplus GE "cross-in-glass" signal mirrors for $1.
http://books.google.com/books?id=seADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA279
( You can zoom in with the "magnifying glass" icon)

$1 back then corresponds to $10.62 today, according to http://research.stlouisfed.com/fred2/data/CPIAUCNS.txt


Edited by rafowell (03/04/10 07:54 AM)
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A signal mirror should backup a radio distress signal, like a 406 MHz PLB (ACR PLB) (Ocean Signal PLB)