D Cells C Cells, the AAA No More?

We thought we had seen the last of the D cell battery when our boom box left over from the 80’s finally gave up the ghost, bleeding green and crusted alkaline from it’s plastic innards.

I mean, come on, who uses D cell batteries anymore, right? When was the last time you used anything other than a AA, AAA, or even occasionally a C? For that matter, when was the last time you used a disposable battery at all?

It turns out that the D cell remains the primary power supply for childrens’ devices. We got a fancy new mobile for Penny, and it takes four D cell batteries. Not one, not two, not three, but four of the behemoths. A friend has a child that liked to sleep in an automatic swing – they went through hundreds of the venerable D cell. My iPod has run for more than two years on a rechargeable battery 1/100 the size of what is required by these basic motorized devices.

In the spirit of our investigative mandate, we checked into the D cell. It was invented in 1896 to power what was then the hippest fashion accessory, the flashlight (click here for a history of the flashlight). It’s immediate predecessor, the #6 battery, weighed in at around three pounds at six inches in height (click here for a history of the battery).

Think about it – the most cutting edge devices we use to educate and entertain our children employ technology created in 1896. Is there anything else we use in our everyday lives that has not changed much since 1896? Even the Constitution was last updated on May 5, 1992!

Couldn’t toy manufacturers use a little imagination and figure out how to juice up their devices with a little less power? After all, they’ve certainly figured out how to miniaturize the little screws that you have to get past just to change the battery (a story for another day – why do these devices require the smallest screwdriver possible to open the battery compartment? Fisher Price My First Nano-Technology?).

Maybe Hasbro et al. are just trying to "keep it real." Maybe it is all just a nod to the various vintage crazes that periodically sweep the nation. Maybe there is a deeply rooted conspiracy between toy and battery manufacturers to keep the D alive. Whatever the reason, if you long for the days when D cells ruled the world, become a new parent, and you’ll find yourself awash in your stubby, familiar friends.