For the princely sum of $11.50, I was the winning bidder for this Western Electric 24J subscriber set. The phone features the American Bell Telephone disclaimer and has patent dates from 1897 & 1906. I cannot find any info on this particular subset.
It certainly seems that you didn't over pay for it!
Nick
I told my wife how much it cost for once! I like it because it is in such deplorable condition I have a good excuse to restore it. The shellac is pretty much completely flaked off. The condenser leaked all over the base of the phone. And there is a big chunk missing from the cover.
Did some work on the subset this afternoon. The box was a mess-cracked seams, water stains, a large stain from the leaky condenser. I went with a darker stain than I like to use to cover up some of these defects. I am trying to sort out the wiring, which seems to be the same as a 295, but nothing is labelled.
Hmmmm. I hooked the line to the binding posts, and used a replacement condenser attached to C and L2 but still get a busy signal.
Here is another version, the TYPE 24F. This one has external binding posts for the subset cord as well as the line:
Notice how the ringer circuit makes contact.
A similar one sold for $62 yesterday, perhaps incorrectly described as a "241." Notice it has 2 exposed binding posts on one side, and 3 on the other.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Western-Electric-Type-241-Bell-Ringer-Wood-Case-Parts-or-Repair-USA-/371043658419
If the desk stand has a 3-conductor cord and the line uses grounded ringing, where does the ground connect?
I need to look in the 1940-69 section more often! I could have saved myself the trouble of buying the extra candlestick that came with mine.
This one has earlier style external binding posts on one side. Also, it has an internal external binding post.
I'm not sure where the ground connects on these old subsets. A copper pole sunk in the ground by the outhouse?
Were these subsets (with induction coils) already manufacture discontinued by the time of the 1908 WE catalog? (1886+17=1903). Possibly replaced by the 295A subset?
They do not appear to be very common. They seem to be a transition between the TYPE 101 and the 293A, with the 24F having more in common with the TYPE 101 and the 24J having more in common with the 295A. The last patent date on the 24J is 1906 so it would have been made around the time of the 1908 catalog. Here are the patent dates for the two 24F sets:
Using the 17 year rule:
The 24F that sold yesterday in the 1940-69 section dates from 1901-1903
The 24F I bought today dates from 1897-1901
The 24J I bought a while ago dates from 1906 actually the date range, which I thought was 1889-1906 was actually 1897-1906 when I looked at the box itself and not my crappy picture. The 1894 patents are no longer listed. This would put the early date at 1911 which seems to be around when they stopped using patent dates and external binding posts. Of course, the 1894 dates may have referred to parts of the subset that are obsolete, so the actual date may have been earlier.
The 24F just arrived, it is in excellent condition except that I snapped off one of the switches bending it back into position. Luckily I have brass strap exactly the same size. Here are some pics
Here is a pic of the wiring: