Pre-AT&T American Bell 2-bar magneto in original case

[citydweller]

Just got this last week from a clean-out.  Research sent me here, where your comments said it was likely circa 1880-1899, and damned rare.  It cranks clean, generates 40-68 volts AC without pushing it, and just amazes me in how clean it is.

Thoughts?

[sebbel]

Only one. I'll give you 10$ do you ship to Canada?!

[G-Man]

 Williams (of course), Post and Company, Standard Electrical Works, North Electric were a few of several companies authorized to manufacture apparatus for American Bell.

Standard, with the exception of North were eventually purchased by Western Electric in a bid to eliminate competition and gain valuable patents that they may have held.

[rdelius]

More likely on the 1880 side.American Bell did not last long. ATT by 1882 or so.By then WE was making most items

[poplar1]

Per Wikipedia, American Bell existed from March 20, 1880 to Dec. 30, 1899.

You find American Bell transmitter bells ("cups") recycled on candlestick phones 30 or 40 years later.

What I don't understand is why there are American Bell receiver caps found on #143 receivers.

[G-Man]

Actually American Bell lasted for about nine-years before it was reorganized under the name of its long-lines subsidiary, AT&T:

The National Bell Telephone Company subsequently merged with others on March 20, 1880 to form the American Bell Telephone Company, also of Boston, Massachusetts.
On December 30, 1899, the assets of American Bell were transferred into its subsidiary American Telephone and Telegraph Company.

[poplar1]

1880-1899= 19 years

[G-Man]

1880-1899= 19 years

nineteen-years

[rdelius]

Forgot about the tx cups. Still I think early 1880s because of the MFG.Pre WE Bell items are hard to find.Other items of the same vintage were made Standard, Post and Co,and others

[citydweller]

Got this back from the chief archivist at AT&T:

Hi, Steve:

Thank you for the interesting question.  I have magneto generators here San Antonio, but none manufactured by Standard Electrical Works.  George Kupczak may have one in Warren, NJ, though.

According to my secondary sources, the generator was made in the 1880s.  For what it's worth, this is how Kate Dooner describes the manufacturer:

"Standard Electrical Works began in 1878 with offices in Cincinnati, Ohio.  The company was contracted to make telephone instruments and switchboards the next year.  They also manufactured magneto bells for Post & Co. in 1882.  They transferred controlling amount of stock to Western Electric Company in 1884 and in 1888 the name changed to Standard Electrical Co., Inc.  In 1902, the name was Standard Electrical Co. and in 1907, the company became a branch house of Western Electric as Standard Electric." [in _Telephones, Antique to Modern: a Collector's Guide_ (West Chester, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 1992), p. 170]

George David Smith, in his scholarly work based on research at the old AT&T Archives (George's operation), says Standard Electrical was actually formed as a subsidiary of Post and Company of Cincinnati around 1882 or 1883:

"[When American Bell] terminated Post and Company's manufacturing license [signed in the summer of 1879], in accordance with its commitment to Western Electric in the [Feb. 6] 1882 contract, arrangements were made for the creation of a new company, the Standard Electrical Works, a Post and Company subsidiary, in which American Bell took a one-third interest in capital stock." [in _The Anatomy of a Business Strategy:  Bell, Western Electric, and the Origins of the American Telephone Industry_ (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985), p. 131].

Based on these sources, therefore, I would argue your generator dates between 1882 and 1888.  If I find additional information, I'll pass it along.

Best wishes,

Bill

[G-Man]

According to this off-list comment from one of the early wood telephone experts from the TCI/ATCA listserves, you may have a valuable piece:

Yes it is one of the Authorized Manufacturers for American Bell. 

From what I can see it is a cut off box for a three box phone, maybe. The armature has some odd extensions on it that I don't recognize and the crank arm seems to be fairly long. The magneto appears to be in decent condition and one of the last styles they made.

I could be interested but not at a great price as I really don't need it at this time. If someone needed it, it might fetch $120.

[Sargeguy]

A Standard Electrical Works box with magneto, switch hook and ringer sold a few years ago for $229.  This doesn't have the ringer or the switch hook.