Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
2018.0011.0025 |
Object Name |
Capacitor |
Description |
Red and white IRC electronics bag. The IRC logo is in a black oval on a red bar at the top of the bag. Below that in a white band reads "Quantity Kemet C1 Type or Stock No. Description". Below that is a small red band and then another white band which has the text "C W Electronic Sales Co. 1237 - 16th St. Denver, Colo. 80202 244-5523". Below that the bag is red, with a small white band that reads "IRC, Inc." inside it. The back of the bag is white. The bag is sealed, and a capacitor of some sort can be felt inside. |
Date |
late 1960s |
Provenance |
Donor's stepfather Vernon Grimes helped develop the beep ball while volunteering for the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind in the late 1960s. Charles Fairbanks, an engineer at Mountain bell, initially came up with the concept and first prototype of the ball by placing a battery powered phone ringer into a softball. Grimes and other volunteers from the Telephone Pioneers of America (a non-profit comprised of retired phone company professionals) improved upon the device to make it usable to play a version of baseball for the blind and hard of sight. To fix the problem of the ball and interior electronic components breaking when being hit by a bat, the ball was inserted into a large 16-inch softball. The inside electronic parts became more refined with the addition of two electric circuit boards and more powerful batteries. With the improved ball, the sport became popular with its first World Series taking place in 1976. Beep Ball follows the basic rules of baseball, with some alterations such as a closer pitchers mount and a smaller field without a second base. |