Ride in the country - found some phones!

[jsowers]

Here's what Stephen's referring to. The Lumberjack Song from Monty Python.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg

[Stephen Furley]

i didn't know what a comtmepra was until i saw your picture. the handset looks just like my northern telecom testset.

I'm surprised he found two of them; over here they're quite rare, and usually expensive.  Mine is orange, and this seems to be the most common colour here.  It was one of the models included in the BT 'Special Range' telephones in the early '80s; this was the beginning of the end of the 'standard' telephone, though they were still rented originally, and were more expensive.  The orange one on this page:

http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/phones_1980on.htm

looks just like mine.  My one claims to have been made by GEC in Newton Ayclife, in the North East of England, but I'm sceptical, I have a feeling that they were either imported, or assembled here from imported components.

The BT Telephone 282 test set, by Besson:

http://www.britishtelephones.com/t282.htm

has a very similar, but not quite identical moving finger stop dial.

I have one of these, and the later push button version, the 284:

http://www.britishtelephones.com/t284.htm

The blue version of the 284, made by chesilvale, now Tempo, as the DSTS2 is what I use at work.  My one is a darker blue and grey.  The orange 284, I can't remember who made that one, turned up on Ebay recently, but at a silly price; I think it was unsold, and may still be there.

Sams site also has pictures of most of these, plus the old Telephone 280, which I have two of, one in rather poor condition, but with original cord and strange plug.

http://www.samhallas.co.uk/collection/test.htm

[Stephen Furley]

Here's what Stephen's referring to. The Lumberjack Song from Monty Python.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zey8567bcg

There were three versions of the song, that was the original one with Michael Palin from the television series, in around 1969; he looks very young compared with how he is now; do you get any of the selevision series he has done over there?  The whole of this version of the sketch is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xToPCaNxaow

The sketch was repeated at the 'Live at the Hollywood Bowl' performance which Python did, this time with Eric Idle as the lumberjack:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPYfaTvHT0&feature=related

I suspect that the language used by John Cleese would not have been permitted on Television at the time, though this version was broadcast later, and I don't think it was censored at the time.  ***

The final version was in German, from the series 'Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVOG199X2c

To be honest, a lot of Monty Python wasn't very good, but there were some brilliant shetches; this is one of my favourites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIlKiRPSNGA

and this one from the 'Holy Grail' film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp_l5ntikaU&feature=fvst



*** When I first left school I worked at a mad girl's school in South London, If you were going to ask whether it was the girls or the school that were mad, the answer would be both.  I'f you've ever seen the old 'St. Trinians' films, it was actually quite similar, except that it wasn't a boarding school, and they didn't wear that horrible uniform.  The George Carlin 'Class Clown' record was very popular with the girls at the school, including the 'Seven words you can never say on television' thing, and I remember thinking that I'd heard all of them on television at that time.

[jsowers]

he looks very young compared with how he is now; do you get any of the selevision series he has done over there?

Stephen, we got the original Monty Python shows on Public TV here in NC when I was a kid and much later a Palin travel show, which kind of brings us back to "a ride in the country" so to speak. I think Michael Palin rode a bicycle in some of those shows. The original Python show was racy stuff for 1970s TV in the US, and you are correct about some of it being "not very good." Though I still laugh at that short sketch where they confused someone's cat.

And while we are on the subject of British things, would you tell me what the correct terminology is for the "white slimline telephone" Hyacinth Bucket used on Keeping Up Appearances? I always loved that show. And the way she always corrected everyone on the pronunciation of her last name. "It's not Bucket--it's Boo-Kay!"

Also, the ring of a British phone. Is it normally two rings? Here the only time I recall two short rings being used was in party line service with only two parties on the line. My grandmother had this type of service and the number cards on her two phones said at the bottom "Answer __2__ rings." It was Southern Bell, if anyone wants to know, and sometime in the 1970s.

[McHeath]

Python and krew were on our Public Broadcast Station in the 70's as well here in California.  Late at night, very racy, and hard to understand as I kept looking for the meaning of the skit.  Benny Hill was on as well, and watching that was a sure ticket to trouble if you got caught.   

Indeed as I look back all the British stuff was hard for me to figure out in the 70's, the dramas and comedys and murder mysteries were baffling.  Now when I watch the American TV shows of the time that I liked so much and compare them to the British stuff I see why, the US shows were a lot easier to read who was what and why, etc.

And we love the Bucket lady, our Hyacinth.

My wife uses my 706 phone and when it rings it does not sound right as it does not have the two ring pattern we see on British TV.  And to me British doorbells always sound like they should be the phone and vice versa.   

[bingster]

I saw an RCA Victor Victrola, from about 1958. In a mahogany finish wood cabinet and it had the separate extra speaker too. It's a record player only--no radio. I had to bite my lip and walk out the door! The main unit was $25 and the speaker was $15. 

If that's the boxy unit that sits on long spindly legs, it's worth much more than $25.  It's a shame the set got separated.  You might want to go back for the speaker and put it on ebay, as they're hard to come by.

[Stephen Furley]

Stephen, we got the original Monty Python shows on Public TV here in NC when I was a kid and much later a Palin travel show, which kind of brings us back to "a ride in the country" so to speak. I think Michael Palin rode a bicycle in some of those shows. The original Python show was racy stuff for 1970s TV in the US, and you are correct about some of it being "not very good." Though I still laugh at that short sketch where they confused someone's cat.

I'd say on average there were about two really funny sketches in each Python show, and a lot of not so good stuff in between.  I love the way that the totally normal nurse in the Doctor sketch doesn't seem to see anything odd about either the Doctor or Mr. Gumby, and the way she says to Gumby as she leads him out, 'He's brilliant, you know'.

And while we are on the subject of British things, would you tell me what the correct terminology is for the "white slimline telephone" Hyacinth Bucket used on Keeping Up Appearances? I always loved that show. And the way she always corrected everyone on the pronunciation of her last name. "It's not Bucket--it's Boo-Kay!"

I don't know, I never saw that show.  Take a look at the telephones on the Telephones UK site, http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/ Most of the more common ones are there, can you see anything similar?  Of course, in more recent times there's been an almost infinite range of 'phones available.

Also, the ring of a British phone. Is it normally two rings? Here the only time I recall two short rings being used was in party line service with only two parties on the line. My grandmother had this type of service and the number cards on her two phones said at the bottom "Answer __2__ rings." It was Southern Bell, if anyone wants to know, and sometime in the 1970s.

Yes, two rings, brrr-brrr or brring-brring, depending on the type of bell.  The ringing current is 75V, 25Hz with a cadence of 0.4s on, 0.2s off, 0.4s on 2s off.  At least that's on PSTN direct exchange lines; PABX systems often use a single ring, and if you go back as far as the old wooden switchboards, one was still in use where my mother worked in the early '70s,the extension just rang continuously for as long as you turned the handle!  d.c. trembler bells were used in certain special applications, but normal telephones were intended for 75V 25 Hz.  We didn't use strange frequencies for shared service to the best of my knowledge, so any normal British 'phone should work on your 90V 20 Hz.  originally, bell windings were 1k Ohms, with extension bells wired in series.  When the new plug and socket system was introduced this was changed to 4k Ohms, with multiple bells wired in parallel.  Old 'phones were converted either by fitting a new 4k ringer, or by fitting a 3.3k resistor in series with the existing one.  Your higher Voltage and lower frequency would both cause the bell to draw more current than it should, and provably cause probably cause problems with other 'phones, especially modern electronic ones, connected to the same line, so it's probably best to fit a somewhat higher value of resistor.  The different dial pulses that we use, 66% break rather than 60%, are unlikely to cause any problems.

[Stephen Furley]

Python and krew were on our Public Broadcast Station in the 70's as well here in California.  Late at night, very racy, and hard to understand as I kept looking for the meaning of the skit.

Unwise to try to find meaning in Python, at least in the TV material.  The feature films did have a story to them.

And to me British doorbells always sound like they should be the phone and vice versa.   

Doorbells can make almost any sound, from a simple buzzer to 'ding-dong' chimes, to ones which play a tune.

[McHeath]

Yah it took me a while to figure out that Python skits had no particular meaning, at least most of them.  We watched one the other night, Whither Canada, which was typical, no mention of Canada at all, a few really good funny skits, and a lot of misfires.  (my 17 year old thinks it's all hysterical, ah youth)

I figured that door bells there are like here, a wide variety of ring styles.  But on the shows we frequent they always seem to have the same mechanical ring sound that sorta sounds like an older American phone. 

[bingster]

I figured that door bells there are like here, a wide variety of ring styles.  But on the shows we frequent they always seem to have the same mechanical ring sound that sorta sounds like an older American phone. 

We had one of those in the house I grew up in.  It was a single gong bell, and sounded a lot like a telephone.

[Stephen Furley]

I was sure I had a third telephone with a 'Contempra' style moving finger stop dial, but I couldn't think what it was.  I've just remembered, it's another test set, the CMC Trub-L-Shooter, which is the strange thing with a dial on one side and a DTMF only keypad on the other.  All three of these dials are slightly different, but very similar.  It's a clever idea.