Old He-Ne Laser Pointers
How does one know when a laser becomes a "laser pointer"? The first He-Ne that was shown being used for that application was the Spectra-Physics model 130. The ad below from 1963 shows Art Schawlow (at Stanford) and Earl Bell (of S-P) using one to point at a blackboard. Schawlow dismissed the laser in an oral history interview as too dim and the pic a publicity stunt, but the idea was there and the laser has a handle on top.
People apparently used heads with handles and cylindrical He-Ne heads for the purpose until the late '70s when Bergen Expo Systems started selling their model LP-6 seen here. I don't know when exactly they started, but the earliest head I've seen is marked from 1978. Seen here is a complete system from March, 1979. I'd guess the tube and supply were made by Spectra-Physics. A mid-'70s OEM S-P model 136 is shown below as a reference. The three-pin connector is missing from it, but I've seem them of other S-P lasers. What really defines it as a pointer I think, is the controllable shutter on the side of the head. Every other pointer I've seen has a switch there. This one has a mechanical shutter! Also seen below is the same model pointer from the mid-'80s (1983 supply, 1985 head).
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