Vintage Gizmo: 1920s Miller Retractable Hand Signaling Device For Trucks Or Cars

One of these days one of us here should do a history on turn signals. I know that in Europe, semaphores were required starting in the 1930s or so. I have no idea about how it happened in the US, given that regulations were a state-by-state thing until the ’70s or so. But there were some trafficators available and or used going back quite a ways, and I ran across this one being offered for sale, described as being a Miller from the 1920s, “with scissor arm and pulley”. I should have put a set of these on my F100 rather than fix my turn signals.

And I also ran across a set of turn signal lights from the ’30s that are worth sharing:

 

Arrows in the lenses, to make it obvious what is intended. Or more likely because they didn’t actually flash, just turned on, and off again.