Info Needed on this AE Stick

[Doug Rose]

I found this years ago and have just held on to it. This is an old stick with the A on the receiver hook, transmitter is marked Automatic Electric Co Chicago, ILL and there is a C under the Bakelite mouthpiece. Paint is in nice shape. This has not been cleaned up.

The dial looks like a Siemens and I have seen them on Canadian AE built phones. It fits the small opening perfectly, BUT the Chrome is very shiny compared to the Nickel on the transmitter cup and the receiver hook. When I found this stick there was a small screw taped inside that looks like it would go into the dial in the front, but it is not lined up properly.

The killer is for some reason there was another hole in the back of the stick. It appears to be dented where it was done. You cannot see this from the front. I have no explanation for this being done.  Any help would be appreciated.

I am considering selling it for parts on eBay tomorrow...thanks....Doug

[AE_Collector]

Commonly referred to as an AE Stairstep Candlestick by collectors due to the stepping on the side of the base. Came after the 11 digit Strowger Stick and before the Type 21 Stick. These retained the "A" in the hook from the Strowger Sticks that the later Type 21 lost. More commonly this would have had a Mercedes Dial on it.

Too bad someone drilled the hole in it for whatever reason. I have one of these that needs a lot of attention one day though I dont know of any missing parts on it.

Terry

[Doug Rose]

thanks Terry...I do appreciate it!....Doug

[NorthernElectric]

These retained the "A" in the hook from the Strowger Sticks that the later Type 21 lost.

My stairstep does not have the As and I have seen numerous photos of these both with and without.  Is it possible they changed the hook design partway through production of this model?

Bummer about the hole in the back Doug.  Any signs of it having been a lamp?  The hole could be for a switch.

[andre_janew]

Could one hole have been used for the line cord and the other for the receiver cord?

[Doug Rose]

Cliff.... no signs of it being a lamp. I got it over five years ago with a few other phones, all together they were not much of a dent in my wallet. I keep holding on to it for the A in the hook and the vintage transmitter. I'm sure some AE guy will want it even with the hole in the back, maybe he has an extra base. I will list it on eBay tomorrow, I am never going to do anything with it. It does display very well.....Doug

[AE_Collector]

My stairstep does not have the As and I have seen numerous photos of these both with and without.  Is it possible they changed the hook design partway through production of this model?

That is probably exactly what happened. They got tired of getting letters and people phoning them asking what the "A" stood for, their phone company name was Hooterville Telephone Company which starts with an "H" not an "A". Or phone calls requesting one with a "B" as their last name is Brown etc.... 

Terry

[CanadianGuy]

I saw these while working in someone's house. Got permission to take pics. He says he found them in the ceiling of a "power building" here in Winnipeg, in their boxes, decades ago. He didn't keep the boxes, but said he probably should have.) They look like new! Maybe NOS? Does the bottom one match yours?

[Jack Ryan]

The Siemens dial is probably a No 10 that was used in Canada. The mount is a descendant of the Mercedes mount and that is why it seems to fit so well.

Mercedes --> Siemens No 3 --> Siemens No 8 --> Siemens No 10.

In that development, a lot of details changed but the mount remained very similar.

The 'A' in the hook was introduced in 1905 on the Strowger 11 digit telephones and was continued on the first of the two wire dial telephones introduced in 1909. At that time the step based candlestick was nickel plated and used a Sunburst dial. By the time the Mercedes dials were introduced in 1911, there was a move to make the telephones cheaper. Over the next few years, the candlestick changed to steel rather than brass and it was finished in black Japan. The hook was simplified and lost the 'A'.

There are not many nickel phones left but there are some brass phones with 'A' hooks that are finished in black. There are also other combinations that may be the result of subsequent refurbishments.

Jack