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Introducing myself and my telephones

Started by ritchie, November 02, 2010, 09:03:15 PM

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ritchie

Hi all,

My collection started last week! I've always loved Bakelite and by gone days. I recently built a garage and needed an intercom......
I saw a couple of old phones in an antique shop and thought it would be cool to turn them into intercoms. I fell in love as soon as I picked the first phone up. As I was paying for the phone (100 canadian), I was told she had another 2 phones behind me on the shelf. Well... if it wasn't the little brother of the phone I just bought!  ..and his friend :) 40 bucks each.

I went online to find out more about them, no longer wanting to make intercoms but to preserve these phones. I happily found this forum.

Can you please help me to assess these phones for year, etc.

Here's the first:



ritchie

#1
And number 2

The black tape on the dial card is hiding my number as I currently use this phone on my Shaw Digital phone line. (Yup, it rings and dials out.)

The handset's been painted on this one.

ritchie

#2
And finally, the third.

All from the same shop. Excuse the network cable line cord, but the original was missing.

I have replacements on order for all these phones from a well known Internet based Parts site...

Dan

Welcome, you first is an Automatic Electric 34, much coveted by many and very desirable. The second is an AE 40.  A solid phone but not as valuable as the first. The third is a NE Galion, but I am not !00% certain about this third one.
"Imagine how weird telephones would look if our ears weren't so close to our mouths." - Steven Wright

bingster

Welcome to the forum!  The second phone you posted is an Automatic Electric model 40.  The AE40 is a fairly common phone, and was used mainly in the 1940s, up to the mid-1950s.  The real prize though, is the first one.  It's an Automatic Electric model 34, from the 1930s.  If you can confirm that the phone is actually brown rather than black, then you've got a real prize there.  In black, they're rare enough, but the colored versions are especially hard to come by.  But whether it's black or brown, it's an excellent phone, and a brilliant start to a collection!

The third one is a Northern Electric Uniphone #1, made by the Bell System in Canada for Canadian non-Bell independent telephone companies.
= DARRIN =



AE_Collector

#5
As Bingster said, if the first one (AE 34 made from 1934 to 1939 by Automatic Electric) is actually brown bakelite rather than black, you've got a $1500 phone there. What is really annoying me is that you are in either BC or Alberta (I'm in Coquitlam BC) and you found it before I did!!! (Just kidding, thankfully someone found it!) There isn't much doubt that it is either a Mahogany or Walnut phone (AE made two slightly different color variations) as it also has the chrome trim on the handset.

Second is an AE 40 which is the phone that superceeded the AE 34. Made from 1939 to sometime in the late 1950's, also by Automatic Electric. These too were available with chrome trim like your 34 has. $50 - $100 without chrome trim.

And finally the Northern Electric Uniphone. Northern Electric was Bell Canada's manufacturing arm. I can't say much about the time frame that this phone was manufactured. Probably $50 - $100 as well but again I don't know that much about Northern Electric phones.

Dennis: I think we just found a new member for the forum!

Terry

Dennis Markham

Welcome to the Forum, Ritchie.  Wow, what a beautiful AE34!  Congratulations on that discovery!

ritchie

Thanks guys, that AE34 is going to make a great bedside lamp!  :o



JOKING!

I picked these up on Saturday, just had to have them all. I've had all of them on my phone line, I was surprised at the sound of them all, i was expecting crackles and pops but it was crystal clear. It took me a while to get them to ring as it's not green to green etc. Luckily the diagrams are inside the phones and I used the L1, L2 connections and didnt go with colours.

@ ae_collector: I'm actually in Winnipeg so don't feel so bad :)
I had no idea the phone was worth more than the 100 I paid, that's very nice to know. How can I tell what parts here are original?


AE_Collector

Quote from: ritchie on November 02, 2010, 09:40:31 PM
Thanks guys, that AE34 is going to make a great bedside lamp!  :o

@ ae_collector: I'm actually in Winnipeg so don't feel so bad :)
I had no idea the phone was worth more than the 100 I paid, that's very nice to know. How can I tell what parts here are original?


You must have been lurking here for awhile if you are joking that you just drilled the first hole to turn it into a lamp!

Nothing jumps out at me as not being original except maybe the piece of blue cat5 hooked to the Uniphone.

Okay, I guess I feel a bit better knowing that you found that 34 further away from me than I thought. Err, no I don't, my mistake.

Terry

LarryInMichigan

ritchie,

That AE34 is making the rest of us drool.  That is one MAJOR find.  As Terry said, it is a $1500 phone.  

The AE40 can be partially dated by looking at the name of the manufacturer.  The Canadian AE phones were made by Phillips Electrical Works until 1954.  If it says "Phillips Electrical Works", it was made no later than 1954.

Larry

AE_Collector

#10
Good point Larry. AE Canada built their own plant at Brockville Ontario and it opened in 1954. Until then Phillips Electrical Works also of Brockville Ontario had been building AE phones for use in Canada. It has cloth wiring inside so that must be another way to partially narrow down the time frame as later 40's had plastic wiring. One day I should try to figure out when this change took place. Anyone else got any guesses?

Taking another look at the pictures I see the "Phillips Electrical WOrks" oval on the back of the AE34 dial but the AECo diamond is on the back of the 40 dial. Of course dials did get changed around as well as being added to originally non dial phones when an area converted to automatic central offices.

Terry

AE_Collector

It is a good thing that you waited until November to post the pictures!

Dennis: First "Find of the Month" for November 2010.

Terry

ritchie

Quote from: ae_collector on November 02, 2010, 09:49:58 PM

You must have been lurking here for awhile if you are joking that you just drilled the first hole to turn it into a lamp!



Yup, since Sunday night trying to figure out what I bought. i went through this thrift find forum and saw the lamp phones..


The AE40 is a Phillips, and there's a service label dated '52 but I dont know if that was a service or manufacture inspection.

There's no marks or dates on the shell (exterior) or handset.


Russ Kirk

Quote from: ritchie on November 02, 2010, 09:40:31 PM
I picked these up on Saturday, just had to have them all.

Just goes to show that there are some excellent phones if you are in the right place at the right time.

Welcome to the forum

Russ....
- Russ Kirk
ATCA & TCI

AE_Collector

I haven't seen a service tag like that before. I'm going to go with it being added into the phone after a trip through the refurb shops of one of the Provincially owned phone companies, AGT, Sask Tel or Manitoba Tel. Here in BC we had a similar tag but it was stuck to the bottom of the phone base plate. Many of you on here who have AE 40's or 50's have probably seen them "Canadian (BC) Telephones and Supplies Ltd". That was BC Telephones CO Installation company, shops and refurbishing company. Incidentally, "CT&S" did lots of CO work in Alberta & Saskatchewan as well as BC. I spent my first 15 years in the phone business working for CT&S and then transferred into BC Tel who is now Telus. That first day at CT&S was 35 years ago....tomorrow.

Terry