The Vintage Ray-O-Vac z22r

[Grimaldus7]

Hey All,

Quick post about my vintage Ray-O-Vac light. Im not sure when these were made, but the Z22r is an interesting light. All one piece stainless steel, takes 2D batteries, and has an old school 3-way switch.

The switch has an off, momentary on, and on positions. The feel is very tactile and nice. I have the original box which seems to be in great shape. It even 'smells' old ha! The light is in remarkably good shape and still has the original sales sticker.

The bulb is similar if not identical to a Mag 2D. The beam is similar as well but seems more focused with less spill.

The lens is glass and not plastic like a Mag. It has a very solid and sturdy feel in the hand. Even though its all steel, it feels light in the hand - a unique 'feeling' light.

A permanent addition to the collection.

Cheers,
Grim

 

[bykfixer]

There's not a whole lot written down about the vintage Rayovac because die hard collectors focus on Eveready. (Like die hard soda collectors are fixated on Coca Cola not Pepsi.) But google docs may have some old catalogs from them.

I'd surmize to say that "bullet" light is from the 1950's (Edit: looking at gotalight.net it appears it could be as old as 1940) in what was then called "the machine era" of flashlights. Lots of companies styled the flashlight similar to that Z22R during the machine era. They had a flare similar to automobiles at that time. By then Eveready was using plastic parts for less cost to manufacture where Rayovac still built better lights. It's why in pre-alluminum flashlight days cops used Rayovac way more than Eveready.

Your light is mint! Very rare to find one still that nice. Good score!!

Check out David White's site called gotalight.

 

[Grimaldus7]

There's not a whole lot written down about the vintage Rayovac because die hard collectors focus on Eveready. (Like die hard soda collectors are fixated on Coca Cola not Pepsi.) But google docs may have some old catalogs from them.

I'd surmize to say that "bullet" light is from the 1950's to 1960's in what was then called "the machine era" of flashlights. Lots of companies styled the flashlight similar to that Z22R during the machine era. They had a flare similar to automobiles at that time. By then Eveready was using plastic parts for less cost to manufacture where Rayovac still built better lights. It's why in pre-alluminum flashlight days cops used Rayovac way more than Eveready.

Your light is mint! Very rare to find one still that nice. Good score!!

I can definitely see the automotive inspiration in the design, you're right. I was very happy to find it in its condition - it's like it came out of a time capsule.

 

[aznsx]

I'd surmize to say that "bullet" light is from the 1950's to 1960's in what was then called "the machine era" of flashlights.

BTW, I LOVE that term, the "machine era" of flashlights! Forget all your Gen xyzq garbage, I'm a child of the Machine Era for sure (and proud to say it)

 

[bykfixer]

I edited out the "1960's" above because the logo was their 40's/50's logo.

 

[Grimaldus7]

I edited out the "1960's" above because the logo was their 40's/50's logo.

View attachment 41839

Wow that's older than I thought! Very cool!

 

[hsa]

That is beyond cool, I love it.