Minifon Watch Microphone, 1950's
And Minifon Pocket Wire P-55 Kit
You are looking at photos of a state-of-the-art high end microphone built into a watch from the 1950's. The Minifon watch microphone was an optional accessory with the Minifon recorder. The watch microphone was a highly popular accessory with private investigators. The cord would have to go up one's arm and then down the body to the body harness for the Minfon. Talk about "wearing a wire" this was it! However, by today's standards, since the wire stuck out from the end of the watch; it just would not be considered very covert. This system was used by private investigators, undercover law enforcement and spy organizations throughout the world in the 1950's. Below are some close-up photos of the famous Minifon watch microphone.

Video Presentation Of The Minifon And Watch Mic Shot For The TNT TV Mini Series The Company On Location At The Spy Exchange And Security Center And The Spy And Private Eye Museum With Ralph Thomas. Click Here To Watch The QuickTime Video Click Here To Stop In At The TNT Web Site Note: These Videos Require QuickTime To View Them. Click Here To Download Apple's QuickTime Video Player

Click For Large Bigger Than Life-Sized Image

The Minifon Watch Microphone Looked Like An Expensive Watch. In Fact, For it's
Time; It Was An Expensive Watch With A Covert Microphone Built Into It For Use
With The Portable Minifon Recording System. During this era, parts were generally
Not Standardized And Could Not Be Used With Other Systems Or Brands. Just Like You
Had To Purchase Wire Pools From The Same People That Made The Recorder, You Could
Only Obtain The Watch Microphone From The Minifon People.

The Minifon Watch Microphone With A Standard Minifon Wire Recorder. The Recorder
Actually Recorded To A Wire Spool. The Minifon Recorder Was One Of The Most Popular Tape Recorders For It's Era And It's Sales Was Highly Successful. You Can Review Several Pages Of The Minifon Recorder By Clicking Here.

As you can see, by today's standards, the Minifon Watch Microphone would not be
considered very covert as the wire stuck out from the side of the watch. The Idea Was That The Watch Would Just Barely Stick Out Of One's Shirt Cuff And The Wire Would Be Hidden By The Rest Of The Cuff! God Forbid If Your Shirt Happened To Slide Up A Little!

Minifon Pocket Wire P-55

An even "minier" version of the Minifon called the P-55. A Special Kit Marketed To Espionage, Intelligence, Spy Organizations and Private-Eyes (If You Could Afford One!) With The Watch Microphone. Note That This New Updated Minifon Recorder Was Even Smaller And Designed For Covert Use.

The P-55 Pocket Wire Minifon was a wire recorder only in a special kit. You could not play back anything on it. However, it was much smaller than the regular Minifon. The kit consisted of the
P-55 Pocket Wire Recorder, a regular Minifon for playback and several covert mics.

Other Pages On The Minifon Portable Wire Recorder

From The Ralph D. Thomas PI Vintage Collection
THOMAS INVESTIGATIE PUBLICATIONS, INC.
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