tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post8787562523230702963..comments2024-03-20T23:43:28.613+00:00Comments on Caroline's Miscellany: Vintage ExideCarolineLDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00197813252586559665noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3287675141745937676.post-3422075771083720492013-09-17T07:21:33.607+01:002013-09-17T07:21:33.607+01:00When I was a kid, such batteries were called "...When I was a kid, such batteries were called "accumulators", presumably because they "accumulated" power from being regularly recharged. They were found in many appliances, not just in cars, and a typical usage was in powering radio (or as they were called then, "wireless") sets. This made the wireless portable, if you think of something suitcase-heavy as "portable".<br /><br />We had a lodger and my mother grumbled that acid splashing from the accumulator made holes in the tablecloth upon which her wireless rested. I do not know whether this was indeed the reason for the holes. When the accumulator went away for recharging, the lodger had to do without her wireless for a couple of days.<br /><br />My friend's father ran a radio shop, the most untidy and ill-kept establishment I have ever seen. It afforded us almost-exhausted dry-cell batteries, lengths of wire and numerous other goodies for use and experiment. In a room at the back was the charging bay where a row of customers' batteries bubbled away as they were recharged. The air made your eyes prick.<br /><br />I can understand long-lived companies feeling the need to change their image from time to time but for me, the old logo <i>was</i> Exide, and the new one just fades into the background.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com