Classic Rotary Phones: Repair, Refurbish, Restore Vintage Telephones

Old El Paso

Mark — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:23:40 +0000

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!

Winter 1936 - 1937

Mark — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:48:31 +0000

This one has that suitable for framing look, doesn’t it? Merry Christmas all!

Winter 1934 - 1935

Mark — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:00:38 +0000

This is probably my favorite cover of all. My copy of the magazine is in horrible condition, so I had to do some serious Photoshop work to restore a semblance of its former glory. (you can see what I started with here) Forum visitors will no doubt recognize the phone, as I used the image as a template for some of the Charter Member avatars and signatures.

The Pacific Telephone Magazine, Christmas 1938

Mark — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 21:07:51 +0000

I have several telephone industry publications with great Christmas cover art, and would like to share some of them over the next couple of days. Merry Christmas!

Santa’s Workshop, 1906

Mark — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:25:24 +0000

From the archives of the Library of Congress comes this interesting peek into Santa’s Workshop, circa 1906. This image is said to have been one side of a stereo card, but the clear view of the photo studio at the top shows this to be a preliminary image, not a final one. Given the aspect ratio used on vintage stereo cards, and the fact that they were arched across the top, I can definitely seeing how this photo could have worked in that capacity.
I’ve already touched on the popularity of Santa-with-telephone images, and this one features both an oak wall phone and a nice, shiny candlestick. Sure seems like Santa would have a more impressive Christmas tree…
Here’s the phones in a close-up.

Santa Calling

Mark — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:20:15 +0000

Boy, wouldn’t that be something, to get a phone call from Santa Claus himself? In spite of what this vintage postcard might imply, I find it hard to believe that he’d have time to do much of this. After-all, the guy busts his tail making his deliveries, so once he’s done I’m sure that making follow-up calls is the furthest thing from his mind. Once he’s had a couple days of sleep Santa’s probably thinking about nothing but pointing that sleigh towards Tahiti. And then there’s that whole long-distance charge thing. Of course I suppose he could call collect…

Leather Santa

Mark — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 01:23:20 +0000

Around 100 years ago it was common to see depictions of Santa using a telephone, this 1907 postcard being a good example. This will be old news to the vintage postcard buffs out there, but I only recently discovered that some postcards used to be made of leather. Yep, leather postcards were fairly common for 3 or 4 years, but that came to an end in 1909 when the postal service prohibited their use. (supposedly because they jammed up the new sorting machinery) I’ve also included a photo of the back of the card.

Southwestern Telephone News, Winter 1938-39

Mark — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:19:15 +0000

Have I mentioned before how much I admire the art used on the covers of the magazine, Southwestern Telephone News? Well, it was excellent, and typically illustrated the essence of the season. This cover art on this Winter 1938-39 edition was done by Kenneth Jones, an artist that, unfortunately, I’ve been unable to find any information on. It is very much to his credit that he was able to represent a beautiful snowy landscape and actually make the telephone poles/wires an attractive part of it!

Cindy

Mark — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:46:50 +0000

I put a lot of thought into creating an excuse for posting this image. She is, after-all, speaking on what appears to be a Western Electric 302, so surely I could spin a telephone-related story around it. Well, I’ve given up, and chosen to present this illustration for what it is: a stunning example of comic-cheesecake-telephone art. Yea, that’s it!!!
Our young lady, Cindy’s the name, is shown here as seen on the cover of her own self-titled comic book. First published by Marvel Comics in 1947, this cover art is from issue #37, which I believe is from November of 1949. Cindy Comics represents what are sometimes called “good girl” comics, a genre that was similar to romance comics. Apparently “good girls” can wear clothes 2 sizes too small and tease the bejesus out of the neighborhood boys, but must not be criminals, as that would throw them into the “bad girl” category. As I understand it, Cindy was originally called Kooky Komics, and was renamed Cindy Smith Comics a couple of issues following this one. Boy, I sure went off topic this time…

Thomas A. Watson, 1926

Mark — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:46:08 +0000

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”..