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Automatic Electric Monophone 1939 Telephone

Started by HELLO CENTRAL, September 13, 2008, 08:25:30 PM

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HELLO CENTRAL

Automatic Electric Monophone 1939 Telephone ===  Two design illustrations

http://cgi.ebay.com/Automatic-Electric-Monophone-1939-Telephone-PMRR-Depot_W0QQitemZ160282828581QQihZ006QQcategoryZ38037QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

( dead link 02-19-21 )

I own one of these.  It's red, and has the original (?) cords
HELLO CENTRAL.

Mark Stevens

Does it have a red plastic housing, or did you take a can of Krylon to it?   ;D  I don't know much about those AE's, but I'm sure an original color example is valuable!

HELLO CENTRAL

Yes,  :D it is really a readhead, not ala Lucille Ball :D
HELLO CENTRAL.

benhutcherson

I'm a bit partial to these, as it was an AE 40 which was responsible for really beginning my interest in telephones.

In any case, I find it interesting that this was noted as having belonged to the Pere Marquette railroad.

The one I have was given to me by an aunt, whose husband was an electrical engineer for the L&N. For several years(in the 1950s), they lived in a camp car in the yard of the Cincinnati Union Station. This is where the telephone I have came from.

The AE40 is really a solid chunk of a phone, since the whole shell and handset are both made of Bakelite. Considering that the three 302s I have all have corner cracks in the shell, and my AE40 is flawless, it appears to me as though the Bell System may not have been correct regarding their thoughts of the durability of Bakelite vs. thermoplastic.

Mark Stevens

#4
Quote from: benhutcherson on September 13, 2008, 09:19:12 PM
The one I have was given to me by an aunt, whose husband was an electrical engineer for the L&N. For several years(in the 1950s), they lived in a camp car in the yard of the Cincinnati Union Station. This is where the telephone I have came from.
It's always interesting to know the history of a particular phone, isn't it?  I'm also intrigued by phones that have visible clues to its history, even if they can't be resolved.  (like line buttons that reference room numbers...where was the phone used?)

Quote from: benhutcherson on September 13, 2008, 09:19:12 PM
The AE40 is really a solid chunk of a phone, since the whole shell and handset are both made of Bakelite. Considering that the three 302s I have all have corner cracks in the shell, and my AE40 is flawless, it appears to me as though the Bell System may not have been correct regarding their thoughts of the durability of Bakelite vs. thermoplastic.

I like that 302's are so representative of '40s telephony, but the plastic ones are definitely problematic. The plastic used is thin, and shrinks or grows with temperature changes entirely too much! If they had been designed to fit the chassis differently there wouldn't be so many cracked examples today. Too little clearance was provided between the housing and the chassis, and the corners, particularly the front corners, have often suffered.  I suspect that most of the cracked examples were subjected to prolonged storage in an environment that experienced temperature extremes. I'll bet that if they're kept in a climate-controlled area, and not dropped, those cracks would never occur. I don't recall what the AE housings look like, but if they're built anything like the North Electric Galion's, that bakelite is thick!
Oh...
Welcome to the forum, Ben!

HELLO CENTRAL

#5
It weighs a ton!  Even the handset.
HELLO CENTRAL.

Mark Stevens

Now that would be interesting. Find somebody that has a good, accurate scale and a whole lot of phones, weigh each of them to see how they compare! Metal 302, plastic 302, AE40, model 500, etc. I know somebody that probably has all those on hand, and a number of others, too.  Of course he stays very busy with phone repair/restoration, boating, and going to Detroit Tiger games, so he might not have time to fool with it... Dennis?!   ::)

benhutcherson

Well, I don't exactly have huge numbers of telephones, but I do have a decent postal scale and some of the phones under consideration.

I weighed 11 different 500 sets, as well as two 302s, a 5302, and an AE40.

Of the 500s I weighed, the lightest was a date-matched green 11/65 set, at 1780 grams. The heaviest "normal" 500 set I have is a black date-matched set from '55, at 2180g. I have two 500-style key sets(564HD) which are 2490g(G3 handset) and 2600g(G1 handset).

Both of the 302s I weighed are plastic shelled, with F-1 handsets. One has a #5 dial, and the other a #6. Surprisingly, both are 2080g. The 5302 I have, with a #5 dial and an F-1 handset, is 2140g.

And, my AE40 tips the scale at a massive 2480g. So, as you can see, it's significantly heavier than any plastic shell WE sets I have, save for the 500 key sets.

Mark Stevens

Gosh dang, Ben, I think we're going to have to keep you around!  Thanks for going to all that trouble, as that's some interesting stuff.  I wonder what the metal 302's come in at?  The seem really heavy to me! Thanks again... we may have to make you the Official Statistician!  (that's not a dirty word, but someone that compiles statistics. I checked!)

McHeath

Good stuff on weights of comparative phones.  I being old skool had to convert to pounds:

The 11/65 500 is 3.9 pounds.

The heavy 500, 1955 date, is 4.8 pounds.

The 302s are 4.58 pounds.

The big AE40 is 5.46 pounds, ouch!

I recently loaned my mom a simple 1980 made Trimline touch tone as her cordless in her bedroom went out.  Her first comment on picking up was on how heavy it is, and how, "Back then it had to be heavy to be worth anything".  At 78 years of age she lived it I guess, the era of heavy, literally, duty phones.

HELLO CENTRAL

Way back when, and I do mean ::) way back, the doorbell would ring, and there would be the phone tech to install a new cord on your phone.   You'd call for service, and you'd get it.  Never mind what happens if you loose your line during a storm.  Here in New Jersey, things have gone from bad to worse. . .they want everyone to use FIOS, (I won't) so they have let the copper system go to wrack and ruin.  Kind of like the railroads, when they wanted to get out of the passenger business.
HELLO CENTRAL.

benhutcherson

Quote from: Mark Stevens on September 13, 2008, 11:34:36 PM
Gosh dang, Ben, I think we're going to have to keep you around! 

Mark, thanks for allowing me to stay  :)

In all seriousness, I enjoy keeping track of stuff like this. I have a big spreadsheet where I keep all of the data on my telephones, such as manufacturing dates and model numbers of various components, so it was simple enough to just add another column and dump the weights into it.

By the way, sorry about giving all the weights in grams-I couldn't figure out how to change the setting on the scale. I'd meant to convert all of them, but was excited about getting all of the data up and it slipped my mind.


McHeath

No sweat on the grams, gave me something to do this afternoon instead of grocery shop.  I admire you keeping all the data on your phones, I always keep it tucked in my head until I forget it, and then have to look it all up again.

We still have good phone service here in California, at least in my experience.  When we've had line trouble the AT & T, sorry at & t, folks are one the spot in literally minutes.  Once last year we had a dead line one day, I called it in on my cell phone, and within 10 minutes a truck was out front and it was fixed in 20.  Holy cow!  I've even had the techs give me their personal cell phone numbers to call them directly with any troubles.  One day a bunch of hoodlums tossed tied together tennis shoes over the lines all about the neighborhood, I called it in and they were all down in about an hour.