My First Laser & Holography Kit
When I was in 8th grade (1981), I took a trip to Bellmawr, NJ (not far from Edmund Scientific) to buy my first laser. Back then, laser diodes didn't put out much power so helium neon was the only practical option that I could afford from delivering Pennysavers and newspapers.
The laser in this photo is a modulated laser which means that you could plug in a crystal microphone and talk over the beam of laser light. I purchased this one, and a few months later I purchased another, polarized, laser to make holograms in my basement.
Originally, I intended to build a sandbox to make the holograms but I found a clearance holography kit at Edmund Scientific. The kit was basically 2'x2' piece of black Plexiglass on black foam with some screw holes to hold a diffuser optic (not a lens), front surface mirror, and film holder.
My first hologram was my best, mainly because I didn't know that you shouldn't recycle photograph developer chemicals. It was a hologram of Boggles cubes (dies with letters on each size) that misspelled Hologram. (I originally spelled it correctly, but when I moved the holography kit to the darkroom I hastily set up the cubes incorrectly.)
It was a blast - I think I was the only kid in school who owned a laser.
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