Fifty years ago, the August 1968 issue of Radio-TV Experimenter showed this interesting offering from Radio Shack, a hobbyist kit for assembling two D-cell flashlight batteries.

By all appearances, the finished product is identical to the store’s pre-manufactured “heavy duty” carbon-zinc battery. The only difference is the price, as you apparently had to pay a small premium for the privilege of putting it together yourself:  The kit cost $1.25 for two batteries, but the manufactured article, as shown below in the 1968 Radio Shack catalog, were available four for 98 cents.

Despite the slight extra charge, there is something alluring about making a product at home that’s indistinguishable from the factory version (as is the case with this currently available AM-FM radio kit).  For students thinking about making a homemade battery today, see our earlier post about making a reasonably useful battery suitable for emergency use, or this hundred year old idea for making a homemade flashlight, battery and all.