W.E. 1002 ( 141 W 70 ) Handset

[G-Man]

I certainly do not disagree with your statements regarding Carty's reluctance to introduce an inferior handset for use on the PSTN. I did not correct anything you have said regarding it so far; only expounded on those reasons and that it was Eaton at Kellogg that solved Bell's problem.

Even though some seem to think that Bell was all things to telephony, the Independents contributed their fair share to its development.

Personally I think that all sides should be presented for the education of all that may be interested in the history of telephony.

When I have time I will further address why the fable of Bell spurning automatic telephony is incorrect; particularly why the story of Gary having Carty over a barrel, forcing him to sign a contract for Strowger switching because of the operator's strike is false.

Most often is the fact that after his famous speech which was very lengthily and contained multiple subjects other than that of automatic switching, Carty afterwards expressed his surprise that his remarks were taken out of context and that he was not prejudiced against automatic switching if a reliable and economical system could be developed.

If fact, Western Electric was a leader in researching and designing automatic switching systems prior to Strowger's entry.

Further, WECo was manufacturing crude automatic switching systems for the telegraph industry several years prior to Strowger conceiving his system. Also prior to Strowger, WECo installed a number of Village and Queens automatic systems for New England Bell and other AT&T companies.

In the meantime, if you have other sources please cite them.   

Often in discussing history, disagreements are bound to crop up. However it is through them that we can learn other viewpoints that can enrich our overall knowledge of the subjects.

I am not certain what you have construed as a personal attack on you but if you wish to pursue it please do so off-list in order that others are not dragged into an unsavory morass.
Thank you for listening.

While produced and used for intercoms and small exchanges, because of their poor performance handsets were not popular with either independents or especially with Ma Bell who had the bulk of long toll lines where top performance was demanded.

It was not until the early 1930’s when George Eaton of Kellogg Switchboard and Supply patented the non-positional transmitter that the manufacturing and use of handsets took-off in large numbers.

Just prior to that Bell came out with the E1 handset but the bullet transmitter rendered poor performance. That is why Bell licensed the non-positional transmitter from Kellogg and retrofitted the handsets with F1 transmitters.

Also, the story about John Carty  backing down on his position about automatic switching is an old wife’s tale that keeps getting repeated. There are numerous errors in that story; for one, Bell was developing automatic switching long before the operators strike.

G. K. Thompson's patent for what would later be called the A1 hand set mounting was applied for in  1922 and issued in 1924. My point was that as chief engineer Carty insisted on waiting on technical improvements before allowing handsets to be mass produced for the Bell System, and that he *personally* also did not like automatic switching.

Perhaps you also recall the speech he made in Europe in which he stated his vehement objection to automatic switching. Perhaps you also recall that when Bell purchased independent companies with automatic exchanges, they replaced the dial equipment with manual switchboards. That in no way diminishes what Bell Labs was developing.

I would think that you would have a certain affinity for Mr. Carty seeing how you like to belittle those who disagree with you.

[G-Man]

You may be correct since I have yet not had time to pursue when Kellogg introduced their handset but ISTR that it was prior to introducing the Grabaphone model and before Ericsson introduce theirs, but my memory may be incorrect. But the primary point is that Kellogg or Federal would not have had to license it from Ericsson since it was developed first by W.U./Bell.

The following is a quick synopsis* of Paul Walker's 1939 report on the Bell System and the U.S. telephone industry that was commissioned by the FCC.

Robert Brown, chief engineer for Bell's main competitor, The Gold and Stock Telephone Company (Western Union) is generally given credit for inventing the hand telephone set in 1878. After Bell reached a settlement with W.U. and took over their subsidiary, Bell sent Brown to Paris where he introduced the handset into the exchange he was building for Bell, and voila', the "French Phone" was born.

Ericsson copied it and made an extremely crude version in 1881.

Bell continued to manufacture it overseas and used it on the relatively short loops typically used in European cities.

During 1903 Bell delivered one-thousand handset telephones to the associated companies. By 1907 there were 3,020 handset in use on an experimental basis. However, starting around 1912 when mechanical and electron tube based repeaters were being developed, it was discovered that the transmitters and receivers being used up to that point were unsatisfactory due to frequently response and distortion for use with repeatered long distance telephony. It was during this timeframe that most of them had been recalled from service.

It was not until 1927 that newly designed handsets were re-introduced to subscribers of the Bell System. It was not until Bell licensed the patent of George Eaton of Kellogg for its non-positional transmitter that the handset finally was deemed successful by all concerned.

Also note that Automatic Electric did not apply for a license; instead they reverse-engineered their own version so that they would not have to pay royalties to Kellogg.


*primarily in my own words.

I think I read somewhere that the first Kellogg and/or FTR handsets were made under license and with parts from Ericsson.

Larry 

As I recall, Kellogg was the first to manufacture a handset but later on Ericsson copied and made their own version. Someone can take a glance in Swihart’s tome to verify whose came first.

Copying the work of others was part of a pattern by Lars Ericsson who got his start by repairing Bell telephones that were imported into Sweden. He soon copied them and since Bell did not patent them in Sweden he did not have to license or pay royalties. Consequently they were cheaper and sales were good even if the initial quality wasn’t.

Ericsson started using handsets c. 1895. I believe the Kellogg "Grabaphone" was many years later.