Very cool idea!
Just thinking out loud:
- How about a heavy, tanned leather cover with the obligatory belt/buckle closure?
- Leather wrist strap
- If you could make up a suitable decal for a pressure gauge, it might look good on the page forward/back disk.
- You might be able to paint a memory stick to look like a minature Hollerith card.
- Brass fittings on the edges/corners.
- File off the Sony legend at the top and replace with a suitably Victorian brass plate. Maybe something like "Chas. Sony & Sons, Ltd., Practical Perpetual Reading Machine, P'td 1887" ( Help me out here Harry T
)
- Fold up brass "winding key" (a la travel alarm clock). Might be able to get it to do something practical (e.g. secure the cover to the reader).
- Keep your eye peeled for a watch collector swap meet. A couple of $5 "coffee can" special mechanical clocks or watches might yield some interesting parts.)
Fun!