This unique project began following a conversation with Mike May, the model maker at Shure. We were discussing the Company’s Centennial; Mike asked if our archive lacked important historical artifacts.
I replied, “Only a few. There is one item I have only seen in a photograph. It is a beautiful Art Deco point-of-purchase display from around 1940. My hunch is the desperate need for metal during World War Two made these displays valuable and all were scrapped.”
I showed the photo to Mike. After a few moments of thought, he opined, “I can make this.”
Mike asked design engineer Mark Coster for 3-D model drawings based on the photograph. Using Mark’s 3-D documents, Mike created files for the computer-controlled machinery. As it was a side project, the fabrication of the display took about a month.
Below is the magnificent result of Mike’s and Mark’s artistry:
Photo by Julie Snyder
The displayed microphones are from the Shure Archive The mic on the left is a Model 705A Rocket crystal mic; on the right is a Model 730A Uniplex crystal mic. The 1940 Shure catalog features both units.
Our Great Hall museum in the Niles headquarters is home to this paragon of Art Deco design.
Thank you Mike May and Mark Coster for this long-sought-after addition to the Shure Archive…just in time for our Centennial!
Related information: Shure 1940 catalog
Arcana – mysterious or specialized knowledge
For Tech Tip #585, let’s explore the Model 585 Unisphere A microphone and its variations. Introduced in 1967, the mic carried a $67 list price; $640 in 2025 currency.
The Unisphere A came in eleven (!) configurations.
585SA 585AVC
585SA GOLD 585SB
585SAM 585SBV
585SB PE585
585SAC PE585V
585SAV
A = high impedance, unbalanced
B = low impedance, balanced
C = connector on equipment end of cable
GOLD = gold finish
M = matched pair for recording
PE = Professional Entertainer, sold only in music stores
V = volume control, located on the handle
Your author nostalgically recalls the Unisphere A PE585 as it was his first mic, obtained in 1968. I purchased it at Koster Guitar Center, Rockford, Illinois, where I taught guitar during my high school years. Owner Kay Koster was a pioneering woman in retail music who not only opened a successful store of her own in the 1940s, but personally repaired guitars of all makes and models. Video interview of Kay Koster.
Koster Guitar Center held the Fender franchise, selling guitars and amps. Two blocks away, Nielsen Music, the competition, sold Gibson products. Owner Ralph Nielsen’s teenage son was a frequent visitor to the Koster store because he loved Fender amplifiers. Perhaps you will recognize the scion of Ralph Nielsen below.
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Ralph Nielsen also was a deacon at Trinity Lutheran Church, the Rockford church attended by your author’s family. In a city filled with second-generation Scandinavians, every other church was Lutheran.
