Classic Rotary Phones: Repair, Refurbish, Restore Vintage Telephones

Now we’re going way back with a photo of El Paso, Texas taken in 1903. A relatively new technology, telephone service still necessitated plenty of poles, crossbars and wires. Notice the Bell sign hung above the entrance to Kline’s Mexican & Indian Curio Company. (I’d sure like to step back in time and visit that place!) Lots of interesting details in this photo, more of which can be seen in the big version. For still more detail, if you have a high-speed connection, you may want to see the huge, and I mean huge, version. But be warned, it’s around 12 meg!

Thomas Watson, assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, is shown here with a reproduction of the first telephone. The photograph was taken in 1926, the 50th anniversary of the telephone, the patent for which having been filed on March 7, 1876. It was three days later, on March 10th, that Watson became the first person to hear a voice transmitted by telephone. Having spilled acid on his hand, Bell is purported to have cried out “Watson, come here! I want to see you!,” a quotation that has been repeated in several versions, each with a variation on the “I want to see you” part. Unfortunately, Watson had to celebrate the telephone’s first half-century without the man who uttered those famous words, Mr. Bell having died on August 2, 1922.
This photo is sure to have been widely published, having been distributed by the wire services to publishers across the country. By examining the back of the photo we can see that this is a wire service copy, and includes the sort of data typically found on such photos. Dated 3-7-1926, it includes the following description of the photo:

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TELEPHONE

New York…..Fifty years ago today, March 7th, a patent was granted to Alexander Graham Bell, one of the greatest advances in the scientific world in the 19th century…Above left is shown Alexander Graham Bell as he appeared in 1876, at the time the patents were granted him. At the right is shown Thomas A. Watson, who heard the first words spoken over the telephone by Dr. Bell. Mr. Watson still resides in Boston. Bell’s first words over the phone were “come here Watson, I want you”..

This 1908 photograph shows the hub of the N.Y.C. Police Department, the “Information Bureau.” Even the early years of the telephone, the invention quickly proved itself to be an indispensable tool in law enforcement.

A lot of things can change in forty years or so, as these two photos illustrate. The first one, probably taken around 1965, shows my dad playing with our dachshund in the family room, or “den,” as we called it. (still do) The second picture was taken a few weeks ago, and is a close-up of the built-in desk shown in the first photo. As seen in the first pic (sorry for the poor focus), our primary phone was a trusty Western Electric 554, a phone that never, never should have been taken out of service. But then again, not much about the room is as it was then, with the linoleum replaced by carpet, the wood paneling painted white, etc.
I decided that it only made sense to put a 554 back over the desk, but not another white one, as it wouldn’t show up against the paneling. I thought about a number of colors, but ended up choosing black… a black model 354. The Western Electric model 554 had already replaced the 354 by 1960 when the house was built, so one might say that a 554 would have been the logical choice. But when my friend Dennis Markham told me that he was restoring a black 354, and that he might be interested in a trade for one of my North Electric Galions, I couldn’t resist. The W.E. model 302 was the phone that first attracted me to the hobby, so its wall-phone cousin, the 354, had a natural appeal. The trade was made, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. The 1952 vintage model 354 seems pretty content too, even in a newfangled 1960 home.

From 1916 to 1983 the AT&T corporate headquarters was located at 195 Broadway, shown here in the year 1917. Famed architect William Welles Bosworth was commissioned to design the building in 1913, a structure said to feature “more Classical columns than any facade in the world.” The late-neoclassical building was host to numerous records and firsts, including the distinction of using more marble than any other building in New York. The Vermont marble was cut and polished in New Jersey, floated by barge to Manhattan, then moved to the construction site via eight-horse teams. If the exterior was impressive, the interior lobby was breathtaking, regarded as the most spectacular commercial space in the city. Read the rest of this entry »

The name California Electrical Works might be best known by collectors of telegraph and telephone insulators, as their “C.E.W.” marking appears on some of the more valuable examples. Formed in 1877 through a consolidation of E. C. & M. Co., California Gas Lighting, and the Pacific Electro Depositing Works, the California Electrical Works is said to have been purchased by Western Electric in 1908. But these photos reveal that two years earlier the Western Electric name was displayed clearly on the San Francisco facility. Why the name was already associated with the company isn’t known, at least not known to me. But what is known is that on April 18th of 1906, at approximately 5:12a.m., the area was struck by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake.
By 9:00 President Roosevelt had declared the city to be under Martial Law. Mayor Eugene Schmitz appointed the “Committee of Fifty” at 3 p.m. at the Hall of Justice, and gives the shoot-to-kill order: “Let it…be understood that the order has been given to all soldiers and policemen to shoot down without hesitation in the cases of any and all miscreants who may seek to take advantage of the city’s awful misfortune.” Besides their job of maintaining order, army troops were also used to dynamite buildings in an effort to slow the fire’s momentum.
These photos show the California Electrical Works building shortly after the quake and subsequent fires, looking surprisingly fresh all things considered. It cannot be overstated that, as severe as the quake was, it was the fire that destroyed the city. Caused by gas main brakes, campfires of the dispossessed and poorly controlled use of dynamite used to make firebrakes, it is estimated that the fire caused 90% of the damage. In an era of cataclysmic fires sweeping metropolitan areas (the Chicago fire of 1871 and the 1904 Baltimore fire come to mind), the blaze that the San Francisco earthquake sparked was the largest and most severe. Photographs taken during and after the four-day inferno, several of which are available at the end of this post, reveal a scene of far-reaching devastation that is reminiscent of Hiroshima. Approximately 3000 deaths and almost a quarter-million injuries resulted, with over $400,000,000.00 in total damages. The four-story California Electrical Works building was well within the boundaries of the area generally described as “totally consumed.” So how is it that their employees were back at work within days? Read the rest of this entry »

I believe I’d be covering my ears, just in case that baby should ring! This is a promotional photo for the 1958 film, Attack of the Puppet People, starring John Agar. I wonder if that huge model 500 is still around somewhere? It’s not in my collection, I would have noticed!

This artistically composed scene was photographed in 1936 by Russell Lee (1903-1986) for the Farm Security Administration. The description that accompanies the photo in the Library of Congress reads: “Garments hanging near telephone in Rustan brothers’ farm near Dickens, Iowa.”  You can also see the big version or the huge version. A biography of Lee can be found here.

From 1902 comes this photograph of Mrs. George Creel, professionally known as Blanche Bates. (1873-1941) Her renown is based primarily on her prowess as a stage actress, although she also made three appearances on the silent screen. In this obviously posed image, Blanche posses with a wall phone, just 25 years after the invention of the device. You can see a bigger version of the photo here.

German-born Henry Morgenthau (1856-1946) was an attorney and wildly successful real estate investor, but is best remembered for his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which spanned from 1913 until 1916. This photograph from 1913 shows Morgenthau with a telephone attached to one of those arm-like contraptions… whatever they’re called. I’ll just bet that there’s folk who are experts on those gadgets, and could tell you who made them, when they were popular, etc. Anyone that’s knows about them, by all means, chime in! For a closer look at the photo, check out the big or huge versions.

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?

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.

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.