Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator

Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator (7)

A unique collectible that speaks to both automotive industry enthusiasts and great fans of Los Angeles, this rare Acme Traffic Regulator is worth around $40,000, according to experts. Only eleven such traffic lights are known to still exist in their original form, and this is one of them. The Acme traffic regulating device was patented in 1917 by Frank J. Husbands, who lived in LA. Three years later the city was dotted with almost 1,000 such lights.

Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator (7)

Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator (6)

While they did help improve traffic flow, the regulators also had a series of flaws which eventually led to their complete abandonment. One of them was the fact that the semaphore arm slots became a preferred nesting nook for birds. The biggest inconvenience, however, was the fact that the regulators were very difficult to spot on street corners.

Some surviving units can be seen in public collections, such as at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., while others are safely kept in very private collections. Their scarcity makes each example very valuable, their price rising considerably when in cases where most original parts are still intact. This one is estimated to be worth between $30,000 and $40,000.

Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator (2)

Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator (3)

Vintage Acme Traffic Regulator (4)