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Siemens Bruxelles Modell 36, a rare find in very good condition

Started by Matilo Telephones, March 10, 2014, 01:42:29 PM

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Matilo Telephones

I saw an ad for an old bakelite telephone. Thought is was a fairly common W48. You do not see many of them, but every now and again one pops up. Very nice model, the w48. But not really something for my collection, unless it is red.

But then a pic from the rear struck me. The opening for the cord is not in the middle. So it may not be a W48 at all.

So I asked a couple of knowledgable german collectors to look at the pics of the ad. They weren't sure what it was, as the pics weren't great.

By now my curiosity was aroused (and I had some pocket money), so I mailed the owner.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

Last week it arrived. It turened out to be in very good condition and not made of bakelite, but made of metal! At least the housing is. The handset and dial are made of bakelite.

Couldn't find anything on metal modell 36 telephones, but I am assured that it is a rare modell and a metal one is even more rare. The metal ones (Zinc alloy) are made for industrial purposes.

This one is made in Bruxelles, not Germany. Most dates match and dating codes indicate 1951. Its insides are nice and inmeddled with, luckily. No parts missing. The handset cord is damaged, but functional.

I'm very happy with it. This phone is the successor to the W28. As I love the W28 and have a very nice collection of that model, it is very nice to have a Modell 36. I'll keep it in my collection.

Price 29.25 incl shipping.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

LarryInMichigan

Very interesting.  What is that symbol or logo rubber stamped by the upper right corner of the condenser?  It looks like the stamp on the various parts of my Swiss phone.

Larry

Matilo Telephones

Yes, there are more of these stamps on the diagram. See pic.

Don't know what it means yet. It is not a Siemens marking.

I think it is a lion. A similar lion is the symbol of Flanders, so it may be some kind of validation mark of some sort of authority.

Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

LarryInMichigan

It sure looks just like the lion symbol which is all over my Swiss Autophon SA Soleure phone.  It doesn't look quite like the Flanders lion.  On mine, the end of the tail point downward at the back.  The Flanders one points downward in front.  I am really curious about what it is.  I first thought that it was a manufacturer's logo, but these phones were made by different manufacturers in different countries.

Larry

LarryInMichigan

Could it be a refurbisher's mark?  We see strange symbols rubber stamped on North American phones by refurbishers.  Perhaps this was from a European one.

Larry

Matilo Telephones

Don't know about that. I've never seen such a stamp before. Most of the refurbishments here were done by the state owned telephone companies, not private companies.

This logo is not by RTT, the Belgian state phone company. That would not be possible, as the French speaking Belgian would go berzerk at such a Flemish symbol.

I assumed it was a Flemish lion because the phone was made by Siemens Bruxelles. I have seen lions on RTT 56 telephones on the little shield at the front. And those were Flemish lions.

Here is a pic of a flemish lion. IMHO not that different. Not different enough to say it is not the same.

Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

LarryInMichigan

Was there a separate Flemish telephone company in BelgiĆ«?  Could it be that my Swiss phone was used by the Flemish phone company?  My phone already has plenty of mystery behind it.  It was part of someone's collection sold by an auction house in Chicago and had a German dial with Danish numbering on it when I got it.  My post about it is here: link.

Larry

LarryInMichigan

The wiring diagram in my Swiss phone has wording in French and German, but not Dutch.  But a possibly Flemish lion stamped on it ???

Larry

Matilo Telephones

Flanders did not have a separate telephone company. The national Company was RTT, which had a letter logo, not a lion. Bigger organisations may have had their own phone system. Like here in Holland provincial energy companies and the national Railways for example.

The stamps are indeed very similar indeed. Mine has a diagram in French and Dutch. That is why I think it was made for the Belgian market, not for export. But I'm guessing here. Dutch built telephones made for export had translated diagrams. Those only in Dutch were for the Dutch market.

Can you make a close up of your stamp? Than I'll make a close up of mine.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

LarryInMichigan

All of the lion stamps are smudged, and I have a lousy camera, but here is the stamp from the bottom of the phone.  On both the transmitter and receiver elements, there is also an "E" stamped in the same color ink near the lion.

The phone has various date stamps from 1949.  Could it be that the RTT imported Swiss phones to make up for a shortage after the war?

Larry

Matilo Telephones

I'll nip upstairs in a minute to take pics of mine.

I do not think the Belgians still had was shortages of phones in 1949, because in Holland we imported phones from Belgium to make up for our war shortages. :-)
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

#13
Well well, the plot thickens. Turns out my receiver and transmitter have the lion stamp and the letter E too.

Not only that but my baseplate has the same kind of letter stamps as yours, see your 2nd series of pics of your swiss phone. Big letters KZW differently orientated. Only I have the letters K and O and the lion stamp. Impossible to photograph right now. The stamp is dark blueish purple on black.

See pics.

I know a Swiss collector. I'll inform about your phone. Maybe she knows something.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones

Matilo Telephones

Talked to my contact. She doesn't know these stamps or more about exports of swiss telephones of this era.

She is more into bright plastic phones anyway.
Groeten,

Arwin

Check out my telephone website: http://www.matilo.eu/?lang=en

And I am on facebook too: www.facebook.com/matilosvintagetelephones