I had no idea what this was when I bought it at a sidewalk sale at ATA. The woman said it was some kind of "pointer thing" and immediately dropped the price from $10 to $5. Whatever it was looked pretty cool, had a nice case, and I was in the mood to spend $5. I took the mysterious sci-fi movie prop home and checked in out.

First off, it's important to note that this thing is heavy and well-made. This was clearly a serious tool back in the day. Heck, the box even locked (key was included). I did a little research and learned that this Ednalight Electric Projection Pointer is considered by some as the original "laser" pointer.



You'll notice a bunch of heavy black wire. One side plugged into the wall and the other side (4-5 feet long) powered the pointer. Half expecting it to explode, I plugged in the device and tried it out. A very simple affair, the pointer had a single button set expertly in the smooth, high-quality metalwork.



Oh, I have to admit I was pretty excited. What was going to happen! I mean, with all this power and the heaviness and craftsmanship involved. This thing was going to throw a blinding bolt of pointing madness! No one cared about safety in the 60's! This is probably radioactive. I pressed the button.



After about three minutes of testing, the device was already getting warm and I was over it.



