Although scarcely a blip on the radar in the United States, the Swedish telephone giant Ericsson operated this impressive stateside facility in the early years of the 20th century. Production began at the Buffalo, New York factory in 1908, but as a foothold was never gained in the U.S. market the plant was sold in 1918. This panoramic view can also be viewed in big and huge versions.
A look back at the year 1925. This photograph was taken at the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in Washington, D.C., and shows dozens of candlestick phones being readied for service. The cords are wrapped closely to the phones, with some kind of covering around the body of the phone itself. The covering looks to be cloth, but paper/cardboard is another possibility. Anyone know?
The periodicals that telephone companies published for their employees are always interesting, often providing insight into the history of telephony. Southwestern Telephone News, a monthly publication of Southwestern Bell Telephone, distinguished itself with its covers, creative layouts that often featured brightly colored artwork. This May 1931 cover is particularly fanciful! Unfortunately, the artist’s signature is illegible.
It’s been a while since I posted any new ads, so I thought I better do just that. I’ve just added fourteen of them to the Vintage Telephone Advertisements pages, twelve of which are Bell/AT&T ads from the 1930s. These are a bit different from the other advertisements I’ve posted, representing what I like to call Bell’s “pinstripe era.” These are often black and white or single-color presentations, and typically emphasize text rather than images. The content is usually framed by a thin line, a line that got wider towards the end of the decade before disappearing entirely by 1940. Enjoy!
This postcard, said to predate April 18, 1906 (the date of the great earthquake), depicts telephone operators in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The women are referred to as “centrals” or “hello ladies”, a term I was unfamiliar with and which may, or may not, have been a commonly used expression.
Starr J. Murphy (1860-1921), a prominent attorney, shown here sometime around the year 1900. Starr was best known for his association with John D. Rockefeller, and described himself as “the personal counsel and representative of John D. Rockefeller in his benevolences.” Nice work if you can get it. Notice the great swing-away gadget that holds his candlestick telephone. Speaking of which, who can identify the phone? This photograph is included here in big and huge versions.
Have you ever just stopped and taken stock of the whole collecting phenomenon? I’m particularly talking about collecting “old stuff”, be it early telephones, baseball cards, vintage pottery… whatever. Have you ever questioned the time and effort put into your hobby? Why do you study and collect vintage things, and is it a worthwhile pursuit? These questions must be answered by the individual, but I have a few thoughts on the subject that I’d like to share. (imagine that!)
As I see it, there are two primary motivators for any hobby that’s centered around antiques or vintage collectibles: nostalgia, and historical research. Those two factors can, and usually do, overlap to some degree. Often as not, nostalgia is what ropes you in, but it tends to be a poor foundation for a lasting relationship. If you’re a life-long enthusiast, that initial nostalgia likely morphed into something else: an appreciation for history. Read the rest of this entry »
The photo above illustrates a milestone in the history of AT&T, when the third transcontinental telephone line was opened on January 17, 1927. Providing a direct connection between Chicago and Seattle, this northern route eliminated the need for such calls to go through San Francisco. You can also see a close-up of the event.
Founded in 1868 as both a normal and agricultural school, the Hampton Institute (today Hampton University) in Hampton, Virginia was one of the first black colleges. This classroom scene, circa 1899, reveals a class on the assembly and repair of telephones, and is also presented here in large and huge versions.
Calling ahead for tickets was still relatively new in the year 1900, and it’s interesting to see it used as a promotional device in this lithograph. The poster is an advertisement for the Whitney Opera Company production of A Normandy Wedding, a comic operetta that opened in 1898. I’ve not seen an intact example of this poster, and had to do a little Photoshop work to recreate the missing top left corner. It’s probably not 100% faithful to the original, but it should be pretty close. You might get a kick out of seeing the “pre-repair” image or an interesting variation of the poster, with numerous subtle, but distinct, differences.
Paris, France hosted the 1889 World’s Fair, the Exposition Universelle, from May 6th to October 31st of that year. This was the centennial of the storming of the Bastille, and the newly-completed Eiffel Tower provided an elegant, modern entrance to the pavilion. American Bell Telephone, eager to conquer Europe, was on-hand with displays showcasing the services and products of Bell and Western Electric. As seen here, a telephone pole, complete with crossarms and insulators, served as a beacon for the exhibit. The exposure of this photograph is poor at best, but close inspection reveals all sorts of nifty details for the antique phone maven. To facilitate such study, I’ve made the image available here in both big and huge versions. I have another view of the fair, a hand-tinted overview that is 3334×2502 (3.5 meg) in size… big. I was hoping to spot the Bell exhibit in the photograph, but didn’t have any luck. Perhaps you’ll fare better. (fair better… get it?!)
Can you believe it? There was actually a time when the House of Telephones wasn’t the only place to go for cords! The Lenz Electric Manufacturing Company, and others, served the needs of the smaller (non-Bell) telephone companies, offering cords, wires and cables of all types. This advertisement appeared in a 1947 issue of Telephony. I’ve been unable to find much history about Lenz, but they were in operation at least as early as 1917.
$1,500.00 - 1890’s W.E. Repeater Coils (seven)
$1,275.00 - Western Electric E4 multi-line
$987.77 - Western Electric model 102
$860.00 - A.E. Wall Phone (early rotary dial)
$578.99 - Automatic Electric Sunburst Dial
$511.99 - Automatic Electric Sunburst Dial
$487.99 - Automatic Electric Model 40 (ivory)
$455.09 - Post & Co. Ringer (circa 1878?)
$405.00 - W.E. 3-slot payphone (1920s)
$399.00 - Stromberg-Carlson 1157 Wall Phone
$375.00 - Stromberg-Carlson Type 1243
$360.00 - W.E. Model 653A Wall Phone
$328.00 - Kellogg Oak Wall Phone
$321.66 - Automatic Electric AE34
If you were in San Francisco in 1939, you undoubtedly paid a visit to the World’s Fair, The Golden Gate International Exhibition. “World’s Fair” exhibitions were hugely popular, affording the hosting nations the chance to do a little chest-thumping, in regards to both past accomplishments and those on the horizon. These enormous fairs showcased everything new and spectacular, representing the very thing that exemplified the 20th century, progress. The Bell System had been a major part of that progress, and wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to present it on so grand a stage.
Called, “A Pageant of the Pacific”, the exhibition was held on Treasure Island, a man-made island connected to Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay. A spectacular venue to be sure. The Bell Exhibit was located in the Palace of Electricity, where it occupied 7,500 square feet in the northeast corner. 
With a focus on long-distance communication, the exhibit was dominated by an enormous, well-illuminated map of the United States that featured 1,500 small lights to represent cities. Visitors could participate in demonstrations of long-distance calls, with 125 telephone receivers available for that purpose. Read the rest of this entry »
