Swiss Telephone

[LarryInMichigan]

I just received this phone: ebay link today.  It is in great condition, and I am trying to learn something about it.  The condenser has the name "Fribourg" on it.  All over the phone are rubber stamped logos which look like a lion (or some type of animal).  The receiver element has the name "autophon" molded into the front.  There are dates in 1949 printed in various places.  The dial does not appear to belong with the phone.  It protrudes quite a bit from the front of the shell.  The back clear plastic cover has "KRONE" molded into it.  The dial center card has Danish lettering.

I plugged in the phone briefly, and the transmitter and receiver worked.  What did I buy, and what might it be worth?

Larry

[TelePlay]

Nice find!

Is it black or is it mahogany? It looks dark brown but them the lighting used may have given the black that effect.

[LarryInMichigan]

The shell and handset are dark brown bakelite.

Larry

[wds]

That sure is a nice looking phone.  Can you post a picture of the back of the phone?

[TelePlay]

The shell and handset are dark brown bakelite.

Ohhh! That's going to look so good when you are done with it . . .

[LarryInMichigan]

The phone looks quite nice as it is.  I hope to get some pictures soon.  I am certain that the dial is wrong, so I would really like to get a dial which is more appropriate for the phone.  If anyone knows where I can get one for a reasonable price (or better), please let me know.

Larry

[paul-f]

Nice phone!

Here are some past auction photos for reference.

[LarryInMichigan]

Here are some bad pictures of the phone.  I really need to get a decent camera.

The phone is apparently missing the carrying handle.  There are slots in the bakelite where it should be mounted.

Larry

[Sargeguy]

Swiss?  Was it made at the Stromburg-Carlsen Works?

[twocvbloke]

Hah!!!

[LarryInMichigan]

Most or all of the phones like this that I have seen online have the line cord exiting though the back of the phone, but on mine it exits from the side opposite the handset cord.  I am guessing that mine is an earlier version.

Larry

[LarryInMichigan]

There was a 1955 Swiss Albiswerk Zurich phone on ebay which didn't sell, so I bought it directly from the seller so that I could expropriate its dial for this phone.  The shell of the Albiswerk phone is badly painted flimsy black bakelite with a chunk missing from the back where the handset cords exits.  The Albiswerk dial is the correct diameter for the brown phone, but it has an unusual arrangement for connecting to phone.  It has four contacts sticking out at the bottom which make contact with four contacts on the chassis which screws into the bottom of the shell.  I am going to have to look around at a hardware store or Radio Shack to try to find lug connectors to fit over these contacts.  I will probably keep the rest of the phone for parts.

Larry

[LarryInMichigan]

I decided to give in easily, so I just soldered wires to the dial contacts, added spade lugs to the other ends, and connected this dial like the previous one was connected.  Even though this dial has four contacts, and the diagram for the phone calls for a dial with four contacts, the proper dial would have three shunting contacts, whereas this dial has a pair a shunt contacts and another which are normally closed.

The phone looks much better now externally even though the dial is not really correct for the model.

I tried to strip the paint off the shell of the AWZ phone, but it is really thick non-water based, so I will need to try a stronger stripper.


Larry

[LarryInMichigan]

I managed to strip a bit of the paint off of the AWZ phone shell, and it looks like the bakelite has been sand blasted.  The shell is pretty much a loss.

Larry

[wds]

The insides of the White phone is quite interesting.  No wires - seems pretty advanced for 1955.