AE Nickel Plated Step Base Candlestick

[Jack Ryan]

IIRC, the dial appears to be a Mercedes without the number card holder.

It is an AE Type 23 dial.

Well, not so. This similar Mercedes dial did have those holes and it had 2 long, slotted thumbscrew machine screws holding it to the base.

I think very few Mercedes dials had the mounting holes but some did. They are a bit of a pest actually because people use long screws and break the enamel number plates.

which except for the missing number card holder on yours looks very much the same to me, unless I am not seeing something major.

There is probably not much missing except the instruction card itself. Possibly the retainer but I can't see the image at the moment.

this IIRC is the second version of dial from AE with the 3rd version being the most common and unchanged over the years.

As far as I know, there were two main versions of the Mercedes dial; the 1911 version and the 1918 version. The very similar Type 23 dial followed in 1923. The Mercedes dial was around for much longer than the Type 23 dial and, I believe, is more plentiful.

The candlestick that had this Mercedes with the number card holder was said to be an AE Type 21 and the dial is a was said to be a Model 1918 Mercedes.

The AE 21 started out with a 1918 Mercedes dial, then used a Type 23 dial and finally a Type 24 dial from 1926. All three dials will be found on an AE 21 and other contemporary telephones.

The Sunburst was the first AE dial, IIRC.

The Sunburst was the first small (modern) dial and the first (production) "two-wire" dial. There were quite a few large dials before it including two-wire dials.


Hope that helps too.

Jack

[Stubbypylon]

I don't know if all nickel plated AE Stepbase candlesticks came with a Sunburst dial, but I do know that all Sunburst dials (when on a candlestick) were found on nickel plated Stepbase sticks.

[Jack Ryan]

I don't know if all nickel plated AE Stepbase candlesticks came with a Sunburst dial, but I do know that all Sunburst dials (when on a candlestick) were found on nickel plated Stepbase sticks.

The Sunburst dial was released before the step base candlestick existed so it was first mounted on an AE CB candlestick in the then standard position, near the top of the stem.

Thereafter, as far as I know, on a brass nickel plated step based candlestick.

By the way, the subject phone is unlikely to be original - it was probably nickel plated (or chrome plated) when it was converted to a lamp.

Jack

[Stubbypylon]

The Sunburst dial was released before the step base candlestick existed so it was first mounted on an AE CB candlestick in the then standard position, near the top of the stem.

Thereafter, as far as I know, on a brass nickel plated step based candlestick.

By the way, the subject phone is unlikely to be original - it was probably nickel plated (or chrome plated) when it was converted to a lamp.

Jack

To further clarify my comment, when the Sunburst was on a Stepbase candlestick, it was on a nickel plated Stepbase candlestick.