Need help identifying vintage dimmers

[Tim Bonham]

I am interested in finding out information, like the manufacturer name, and any online info or photos of a dimmer that I used at my high school in rural western Minnesota in the late 1960's.

It was a portable unit (semi -- it weighed a lot) about a foot wide an 1.5-2 feet long, slanting up woward the far end. It had 6 sliders on top that you pushed up to fade up the lights. I believe it was an autotransformer type, and the sliders were connections to a common transformer coil. On the back were connections for 12 circuits, 2 per controller, plus at the bottom a large connector for the incoming power. Nothing remote controlled about it; all the watts ran thru this, and you could feel it vibrating when in heavy use.

We had 2 of these, mounted on a cart that we could move between the main stage in the auditorium/gymnasium and the little theatre. There were patch panel control stations in the wings of each location. We ran cords from the various circuits in these panels to the connectors on the back of these dimmer uints.

Just remembering these vaugely from about a half century ago, and would like to find out more info on them.
Thanks.

 

[JohnD]

That would be the Ariel Davis 6 pack.
A couple of threads with more info and some pics:
https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/ariel-davis-lightboard.6069/
https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/ariel-davis-dimmer-distro.8927/page-2
The unit you used also might have been branded Electro Controls.

 

[Tim Bonham]

That would be the Ariel Davis 6 pack.
A couple of threads with more info and some pics:
https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/ariel-davis-lightboard.6069/
https://www.controlbooth.com/threads/ariel-davis-dimmer-distro.8927/page-2
The unit you used also might have been branded Electro Controls.

Looking at those pictures, I think we were using a pair of Ariel Dqvis portable consolettes.
But I remember them as having a rainbow of 6 colored sliders, red..purple. There were 2 columns of twis-lock connectors on the back. connected to the 6 dimmers, Each had an on-off switch on the front, below the circuit breakers. So you could sometimes set up a second preset of different lights on the bottom half but keep them switched off while you used the top set, then switch the top off and the bottom on.
I think they were probably Ariel Davis, rather than Electro-Ccontrol, because it was purchased in the early 1960's, I think.

 

[dramatech]

Looking at those pictures, I think we were using a pair of Ariel Dqvis portable consolettes.
But I remember them as having a rainbow of 6 colored sliders, red..purple. There were 2 columns of twis-lock connectors on the back. connected to the 6 dimmers, Each had an on-off switch on the front, below the circuit breakers. So you could sometimes set up a second preset of different lights on the bottom half but keep them switched off while you used the top set, then switch the top off and the bottom on.
I think they were probably Ariel Davis, rather than Electro-Ccontrol, because it was purchased in the early 1960's, I think.

The multicolored units were truly Ariel Davis. Some of the all yellow controlled units were also Ariel Davis before Electro Control purchased them. I first worked with one of those older units when I was 12 years old and then later many of the yellow handled units in college. I am now 75, so that will give you a clue of their age. Also at the age of 16 I worked one summer for Ariel Davis assembling the cabinets.