Magneta Telephone - Paris

[wds]

Thanks to Larry I picked up this French phone from Ebay.  It wasn't posted in the Telephone section, so I would have never caught it.  I was able to get all the paint off, and switched out the rubber cord with a nice cloth braided cord.  The hook switch is in the handset - the hook on the top pivots.  I'm guessing that's a condenser in the wood base.  The transmitter module is full of carbon dust, and the diaphram is that very thin carbon disc (?).  Does this phone still require a subset to work properly?  Looks better than the pictures.

[LarryInMichigan]

It looks very nice.  Are there any dates on it?  I cannot seem to find any information about Magneta Telephone online.

Larry

[wds]

There is a date stamped inside the wood part, but I can't quite make it out.  If you look closely you can see "18" written in pencil on the inside of the wood part.  Although the condenser doesn't seem like it would be terribly old.  I haven't been able to find any information about this make of phone, but I'll look a little harder this weekend.

[G-Man]

From the history of the Kaplan Telephone Company:

Our History

The Kaplan Telephone Company was formed in 1916. The company was built and operated by Mr. M.I. Ramsey of Gueydan, Louisiana. Mr. Ramsey held the company for only two years before selling it to Mr. Elliot J. Hebert in 1923. Mr. Hebert and his family operated the company until 1952.

In March of 1952, Mr. Lytle C. Turnley, originally of Baton Rouge, bought the Kaplan Telephone Company. On April 20, 1952, Mr. Turnley began ownership and management of the company. In 1952 at the time of the takeover, there were 407 telephones in Kaplan and 70 farmer owned lines. Between 1952 and 1953, the telephone system was improved by changing from the old Magneta Switchboard to a more modernized common battery or "Flash" Switchboard. At this time, customers could pick up their phones rather than crank them. Subscribership increased to 800.

[wds]

So, if this is the same company, then was Magneta Telephone imported from France, or was it an american company using a play on names to attract Euorpean customers, much like Swedish American telephone?  If an American company, then I can assume that only a few of these phones were made?  The handset was made by Ste Grammont - Paris, which came from France.  Here is an article I found on Grammont -

"Grammont was a telecommunication company that specialized in copper cables and telephone equipment. It started an affiliate in 1926 called Société des Telephones Grammont to develop General Electric and Western Electric patents in France, and thereby received important contracts in the automation of the Paris telecom grid. According to the study American Firms in Europe 1880-1990 by Hubert Bonin and Ferry de Goey, the creation of the Grammont affiliate was part of a wider movement practiced by American companies to conquer part of the European market. American patents were hidden within French consumer products with French company names, and "such  a 'non-American but French' firm succeeded so well to become a French-like company that it was posed as a barrier to German influence and as leverage to conquer Europe markets through its own subsidiaries where US-influence was nil." Grammont denied any financial connection between GE or Western Electric and his company."

[wds]

I think I have figured out that the Magneta Switchboard you refer to is a "type" of switchboard, not the 'name' of the switchboard.  I don't think this phone has any relations to Kaplan Telephone.

[G-Man]

No, they are not a manufacturer, but instead, an operating telephone company that used the switchboard to serve their subscribers.

I have never heard of a Magneta "type" of switchboard so I am not sure what you are referring to but please note that they capitalized "Magneta."

The only reason I referenced the Kaplan Telephone Company is to show that apparently at one time Magneta products were imported and used by American telephone companies.

Their history shows that the Magneta switchboard was replaced during equipment upgrades in 1952.

Of course it would make sense that some Louisiana Cajuns who may have been heavily influenced by their French ancestry would be inclined to import products from Paris.

Also from the Kaplan Telephone Company website:

Vermilion parish [Louisiana] is home to a number of Cajun people, as of the census of 2000, there are 53,807 people, 19,832 households, and 14,457 families residing in the parish. The population density is 18/km2 (46/mi2).

[poplar1]

I think I have figured out that the Magneta Switchboard you refer to is a "type" of switchboard, not the 'name' of the switchboard.  I don't think this phone has any relations to Kaplan Telephone.

It could have been a typo; "magneto switchboard" is more likely what they meant. The context says the subscribers went from having to crank (magneto) to picking up the phone (common battery).

[poplar1]

No, they are not a manufacturer, but instead, an operating telephone company that used the switchboard to serve their subscribers.

I have never heard of a Magneta "type" of switchboard so I am not sure what you are referring to but please note that they capitalized "Magneta."

The only reason I referenced the Kaplan Telephone Company is to show that apparently at one time Magneta products were imported and used by American telephone companies.

Their history shows that the Magneta switchboard was replaced during equipment upgrades in 1952.

Of course it would make sense that some Louisiana Cajuns who may have been heavily influenced by their French ancestry would be inclined to import products from Paris.

Also from the Kaplan Telephone Company website:

Vermilion parish [Louisiana] is home to a number of Cajun people, as of the census of 2000, there are 53,807 people, 19,832 households, and 14,457 families residing in the parish. The population density is 18/km2 (46/mi2).

I vote for Magnéta being a manufacturer, not an operating company. Phone service was nationalized in 1889 in France. The phone number on the tag indicates that this phone was manufactured after 1912, when central office names changed from a number (11) to a name (Gutemberg):


16 juillet 1889 loi nationalisant le téléphone en France et le réunissant aux Postes et Télégraphes.

(snip)

octobre 1912 : remplacement du numéro du central par son nom. Ainsi, à l'abonné 25 desservi par le 12e standard du central téléphonique Gutemberg, on a attribué le numéro Gutemberg 1225 au lieu du 11225.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoire_du_t%C3%A9l%C3%A9phone_en_France

[G-Man]

Of course it is possible that a typo has existed for the past 5-10 years on their website but it is also possible that they actually had a Magneta brand switchboard. The Cajun/French connection also lends credibility to this possiblility.

[G-Man]

No one said that Magneta was an operation company, only that an operating company (Kaplan) possibly used their products at one time.

In any event I am going to post and excerpt of Magenta's history.

[G-Man]

This translated history for Magneta shows that they were involved in a broad array of electric products including telephone instruments and are still an active company to this day.

100 YEARS OF AWARENESS

MAGNETA is a French company created in 1908, only family capital, which has adapted to technological developments in a century.

At the beginning of its long history, rich heyday and emotions MAGNETA, whose name comes from the term "electromagnetic", built its success on the "low power", marketing and installing electric clocks Brillié while leading manufacturer industrial watchmaking France.  The system master clock which broadcasts multiple displays connected by a wire becomes essential in the administrative offices, railway stations, large factories or hotels.

Numerous watches and clocks, time control and telephony and security were distributed by MAGNETA throughout these years.

For 20 years, the advent of personal computers, micro-electronics and / GSM / GPS technologies RADIO gave a new impetus to the activity MAGNETA.

[snip]..... The most recent activity developed by MAGNETA is that of radio communication, half a century after the first phones were sold by MAGNETA TELEPHONE.

[poplar1]

No one said that Magneta was an operation company, only that an operating company (Kaplan) possibly used their products at one time.

In any event I am going to post and excerpt of Magenta's history.

G-man, my apologies. I misread "they" as referring to Magnéta instead of Kaplan.

"No, they are not a manufacturer, but instead, an operating telephone company..."

Also, could you provide the link in case someone wants to read the entire passage? Thanks

[G-Man]

Links:

100 YEARS OF AWARENESS    
MAGNETA is a French company created in 1908...

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.magneta.fr/societe.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522Magneta%2BTelephone%2B%2522%26biw%3D1179%26bih%3D535

The Kaplan Telephone Company was formed in 1916......

http://www.ktcpace.com/PageDisplay.asp?p1=4901

[wds]

Great, thank you!  So, my take is that Kaplan imported the equipment from Magneta (France), then used the equipment to solicit Europeans, or mainly French subscribers.  Good marketing tool.  Now I just need to date the phone.