Hasta La Gadget!

A Graflex battery holder was the basis of the Lightsaber prop. Photo Camera69/Ebay

Did you know that the Lightsaber was actually first made in the 1940s, a time not very long ago in a place not so very far away? The body of the now-iconic Jedi sword was actually made from the battery holder of an old Graflex flashgun.

This metal shaft would have had its lamp up top, just like the Lightsaber, and was used with the then-fast Speed Graphic camera, the camera most associated with the legendarily clairvoyant crime-scene photographer Weegee.

In fact, the Lightsaber wasn’t much more than old junk, repurposed. Slid into the mounting bracket on the side of the cylinder was a seven-lamp LED strip, as used in an old pocket calculator, along with unknown grip material and an old chopped-down computer connector.

Just add the Force and you have your Lightsaber.

Ironically, replicas are being manufactured, and show up on Ebay next to the real thing. This means that spare parts are still being produced for a camera accessory that is 70-years obsolete. Maybe they even work?

The Graflex [FX Sabers via Petapixel and Reddit]