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Great-Uncle Walter working with phones in 1915

Started by Bridie, December 13, 2013, 11:24:15 AM

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Bridie

Hope this isn't too off-topic.  I've had this photo for awhile and thought maybe some would find it interesting.  This is my great-uncle Walter Curran age 20 in 1915 working with telephones.  I don't have any further details such as name of employer (could've been Maritime Telegraph & Telephone Co. at that time) or what he did (looks like he might've repaired them?).  He wasn't there for long, as five years later he's listed on a census as being a "printer".  Anyway, can anyone identify the equipment he has here, particularly that large board behind him?

Thx,

Bridget
Bridget

Phonesrfun

#1
Great picture.  I would bet that he is working on phones.  Probably repairing them or as a test-board technician.  The board behind looks like a test board.  It has a large meter in the upper right-hand corner, a big knife switch down at the bottom left, and what looks like a transmitter arm in the right center part of the board.  I cannot make out the other components, but they could be various resistors and capacitors used for testing purposes.  It could also be a test board for testing lines, where various known resistor, capacitor, and inductive elements were combined together to determine where a break, short or partial short is located on a line so the linemen know where to look for the break, short, etc.  Even back then a test board could determine within a reasonable tolerance how many feet from the office such a problem was.

It is interesting to note that the fiddlebacks on the floor all seem to be missing their transmitter arms.
-Bill G

Sargeguy

That's a great picture.  Interesting mix of CB fiddleback types.  Feel free to post close ups of various apparatus.
Greg Sargeant
Providence, RI
TCI /ATCA #4409

Bridie

Thanks for the responses guys, and thanks to DavePEI for improving the image; it's alot easier to make it out now.  I'm going to contact my cousin Pat and see if he has a higher resolution image or the original to rescan, and will post it here if I can get it.

Bridget
Bridget

DavePEI

Here is an improved and re-sized photo of Walter. You can click on this one and view larger...

Dave
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