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Where and when was the last Automatic Electric Type 40 Monophone made?

Started by unbeldi, August 13, 2015, 05:44:45 PM

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unbeldi

Where and when was the last AE Type 40 Monophone made?

In 1957, Automatic Electric opened a new Chicago area plant on the other side of town in the small suburb of Northlake, Ill, barely a town then, having been incorporated only a few years earlier.

An AE catalog or bulletin specifies that the new address would be in Northlake after August 15, 1957.  I could no longer find that document for this writing, but recorded that date as a remark in my notes.  The 1957 catalogs of October or later already specify Northlake as the location. The history of Chicago also seems to have recorded this event in 1957.

The December 1957 catalog TA-57 specifies on page 17, that the Type 40 Desk Telephone has been discontinued.   (Although manufacture of the Type 40 Desk Telephone
been discontinued, replacement parts are still available for  black sets with black trim only.
).  The copy of Catalog TA-57 (PDF) that I have states "Printed in Canada". Does this statement of discontinuation apply only to Canadian-made AE40s or should it be interpreted for the whole company?

Our AE_Collector stated this in 2014: ...  I am not sure that they made any AE40s in the USA after the AE plant moved to Northlake. I am led to believe that AE 40's were made in Canada until very close to 1960...

This discussion thread contains good information about location history, and also mentions the 1957-08-15 date for Northlake sets. It's not entirely clear whether anyone actually had a Northlake 40 for the civilian market, apparently ship phones for the Navy were made much longer (in Northlake).

I have a Type 40 that was clearly made in October 1958, the date stamp on the bottom is "10-58-11".  It has a decal and a circuit label printed in Northlake, Ill.

Was Northlake the last location where they made Type 40 Monophones?

Here are pictures of my 1958 AE 40.

All parts appear properly present per the 1957 catalog.  This includes the Type 81 receiver and transmitter elements in the Type 41 handset, the Type 45 high-impedance SL ringer, etc.  The wiring is new style with PVC (presumably) insulated wire of bright colors. The dial is a Type 51, I believe, perhaps even a Type 51A, because it already has the twin contact springs that are listed for the 51A.  The 51A is supposed to be for the Type 80 Monophone though.  The number card is the 1955-style with the larger printing area, but has only what appears to be an extension number.  The instrument label inside is Form D-53940-A Issue 9, which is the latest I have seen.

The set is in nice condition.

So, is this AE40 one of the last ones made?

What are we to make of the catalog statement that the model was discontinued by 1957?


unbeldi

Quote from: unbeldi on August 13, 2015, 05:44:45 PM
What are we to make of the catalog statement that the model was discontinued by 1957?

From a private discussion it seems fairly certain that data in the Canadian-printed catalogs probably means no more sets were manufactured for the Canadian market only after 1957.

rdelius

The Navy version (type A) was still mfg in to the 1970s.Dial looked like the old type 24 with some type 51 parts.Had some plastic gears also.These were Norhlake sets.Had some NOS handsets with late 70s or possibly later dates. Not as well finished as the old ones.you could see the molding seams

unbeldi

Quote from: rdelius on August 16, 2015, 10:05:15 AM
The Navy version (type A) was still mfg in to the 1970s.Dial looked like the old type 24 with some type 51 parts.Had some plastic gears also.These were Norhlake sets.Had some NOS handsets with late 70s or possibly later dates. Not as well finished as the old ones.you could see the molding seams
Thanks. I believe military sales happened on the basis of term contracts so they had an obligation to continue production and there is no better customer probably than the government.

I have looked a lot everywhere and still restart the search at various times to find standard 40s made in Northlake, but mine remains the only one.  But where there is one there must be more...