Ae 80 from the little town I live in

[rbouch]

Just found this phone in town, untouched at this point.

Am I right that this is an Ae 80 set for party line service?

You can see by the photos thar it has a silver button (exclusion key?) up by the handset and, when I take the handset off the hook, or go to dial out,  I have to press his button to get dial tone or answer.

It also looks like this phone has a 20 Hz frequency ringer as opposed to a straight line ringer, so it rings with incoming calls but has somewhat of a hammer sound.  Again, is this correct? Pictures attached.

Lastly, does this mean that as late as 1965 my town was on independent telephone service or did bell Canada install these wets in some cases?

Does the fingerwheel come off of these units the same way as a western/northern electric would?

Any information anyone could offer would be appreciated.

[jsowers]

What you have there is a party line switchhook. It let the caller find out if someone was on the line before they made a call, without interrupting an ongoing call. It was also a very good way to snoop, and you could accomplish the same thing by just removing the transmitter capsule. Yes, you have to press the button before you can talk. Kind of annoying. On the AE40 we had, you squeezed a lever against the right front switchhook.

You're correct that you have a party line ringer. It usually means the phone is from an independent (non Bell) telco in the US, but I'll let our Canadian guys offer their opinions on that one. They may also have some suggestions as to removing the fingerwheel. The one on our AE80 just came off if you rotated it counter-clockwise a little. If you have a small hole, that could be where you need to insert a bent paper clip or a push pin to release the catch, while rotating it clockwise past where it normally stops.

Your ringer having a hammer sound brings back memories. Our phone must've been a low frequency because that's exactly the word I would use to describe its ring. Our phone sat on a knotty pine countertop with a cabinet below and it served to amplify the sound a little. The day party lines went away was not mourned by anyone in our family because the 500 set that I put in place of the party line phone rang so much nicer.

[HarrySmith]

Congrats! Nice to find a phone from your own hometown. That appears to be an older model going by the small metal plungers.

[NorthernElectric]

Lastly, does this mean that as late as 1965 my town was on independent telephone service...?

I come from a little town in Southern Ontario, Canada, called Orono.

I found a 1959 newspaper article about a proposed merger of the Orono Telephone Co. and the Port Hope Telephone Co.  I don't know for sure if the merger happened, but I found other information re. Bell Canada buying out the Port Hope Telephone Co. around 1968.  Bell Canada was busy buying up lots of small independents in the 60s and 70s.

[rbouch]

Wow,
That's fantastic, thanks so much.

Orono had manual service on my road until 1966, so I'm assuming the phone came from the "heart of downtown Orono" because it is dated '65 and has a dial.

Gave it a quick cleanup and found an old post from brinybay that helped me get the fingerwheel off.

[.....]

I have one just like it, mine is a 1963.

Doug

Edit: Mine is not a party line phone.

[rbouch]

Belleville area?

[.....]

Belleville area?

Yup you got it.

[AE_Collector]

I think they actually called these an AE81 rather than 80. The code on the base shows NB81. Trying to recall, i think the 2 indicates the coiled handset cord. c20 is the ringer and 10-65 the date. The final digit on the end, 8 in this case has never been deciphered. A shift or plant code likely. This would be from the AE plant at Brockville Ontario.

Nice unchanged original condition. Lucky it is the 20 cycle ringer so at least it will work on todays phone lines.

Terry

[Jack Ryan]

C is the dial, 20 is the ringer.

It's just called an AE 80. 80 is the code for standard black phone, 81 for a black phone with a hooklatch.

The coloured versions are 82 and 83 respectively.

Jack

[AE_Collector]

Oh that's right, C for the numbers and letters dial plate. A would be for numbers only plate and B for a dial blank.

There is a version that has the little chrome button that isn't a hooklatch but rather is a push button for a buzzer circuit or to ground start on a pbx. Presumably it would be just be a code 80 (or 82) with an additional option.

Terry

[Jack Ryan]

I haven't paid much attention but the 85 series included an option for a grounding button.

Jack

[AE_Collector]

Yes the 85's are complicated/confusing as well. There are several variations to the "auxilary" buttons up by the cradle including one that I think has provision to hold one of the lines while talking on the other. The 80's, 85's and even 40's with these extra button(s) by the cradle have always confused me.

Terry

[Jack Ryan]

Yes the 85's are complicated/confusing as well. There are several variations to the "auxilary" buttons up by the cradle including one that I think has provision to hold one of the lines while talking on the other. The 80's, 85's and even 40's with these extra button(s) by tge cradle have always confused me.

Terry

confusion /kənˈfjuːʒ(ə)n/

noun

Lack of documentation

Jack

[Ktownphoneco]

Here's a "pdf" copy of Automatic Electric's Canadian telephone catalog dated 1957 ( attached )which deals with the A.E. 80 and the page explaining the ringers used in that set.     On page 5, it details the 5 steps required to order one of these telephone sets, indicating the code numbers to use for each option, such as the telephone type of, color, handset cord, ringer, etc., etc.
The code number of the set shown in this post, starts with the prefix "NB", however the catalog I've attached shows a prefix code of "N" only.    I'm not sure the reason for the discrepancy, but it may represent a prefix coding change between 1957, when the catalog was printed, and the manufacturing date shown on this particular telephone set.

Jeff