Samson Candlestick 20PC and others

[wds]

Bought this unusual candlestick last week.  Single button, drop receiver arm with Solid receiver.  Both the receiver cord and the line cord are green on the inside of the base, but has turned a solid brown everywhere else.  Nice addition to my candlestick collection.

[Jack Ryan]

Nice phone Dave but not really Samson.

It's a WE 20PC with an IC added in the base and a Samson transmitter.

Jack

[NorthernElectric]

Nice stick!  What does the button do?

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Nice 'stick, Dave!

All it really needs is a *329* transmitter, my personal opinion though.

What would the transmitter have originally been mounted to? Was it just mounted to WE phones sold to Samson for Independent use?

[wds]

I believe it's correct with the Samson transmitter and Solid receiver.  The button was used to ring a buzzer.  I may take the knurled nut off and put it on a different phone, but that's all.  Here's some sheets out of the Samson catalog that shows the WE candlestick used by Samson, the green silk cords, and Solid (samson) receiver.  The stick in the catalog is black with nickel trim, but I"m sure it would have been available in Nickle - like mine.

[wds]

Another page for the coil and button use.

[wds]

A quick search turned up a couple other W.E. / Samson candlesticks.  Perch marked H, and another one type 22.

[dencins]

Samson Electric was located in Canton, MA.  While better known for radios, one of their many products was home telephones.

"Samson Electric Goods Manufacturing Co.

The Samson Electric Company was founded in Boston in 1883 as the Electric Gas Lighting Company, where it made electric lighters for gas lamps until 1904. In December 1906, the Company bought the factory buildings previously occupied by the Eureka Silk Mill. By May 1907, it had moved in to the buildings and changed its name to the Electric Goods Company in order to emphasize its broadened line of home telephones, speaking tubes, fire alarm receivers, and liquid batteries. By 1916, the company had become radio industry pioneers with their "wireless receivers": according to George Comeau, these were "headphones for wireless radios consisting of brass circles formed into a cup and then nickel-plated." Both the two magnets and the wire coils were assembled by hand. That same year, the company reverted to the name Samson Electric Company. The company was also famous for making Perfex, a waterproof ignition system widely used in marine and automobile applications. The company closed its doors in 1935."

Dennis Hallworth

[Jack Ryan]

I know nothing about Samson intercoms and very little about intercoms in general so I am happy to be corrected on any of this. There are several points that concern me:

1. I don't think WE, as an OEM supplier, would add a button and an IC to a 20-PC and sell it still marked 20-PC. It would use a blank perch or a custom marked perch. WE made a desk stand with a button - why not use that?

2. A 20-PC includes a transmitter and a receiver. Samson would not buy a complete 20-PC and dispose of the original parts.

3. Who added the button and the IC? If Samson did, did they re-nickel the base cover after drilling it or leave the brass showing?

4. Scanning the Internet, there are several Samson/WE candlestick intercoms for sale. No two use the same WE desk stand. Some are called a Samson Jr. I don't know for certain what a Samson Jr is but I thought it was a small wooden wall intercom.

4. The Samson catalogue image shows the call button on the lower step of the base cover. On your phone it is on the upper step. The catalogue also shows and describes a black enamel phone with nickel trimmings.


My points of concern probably demonstrate my ignorance of Samson intercoms but I would need to satisfy them before contemplating a purchase.

Regards
Jack

[wds]

I don't know what year the Samson Cat. is, but I'm sure over the years the designs changed just like the other manufacturers.  I'm sure the location of the button moved over the years.  Who installed the button?  who knows, maybe WE, maybe Samson.  After taking the phone apart and comparing the visible parts with the Samson Cat. I"m confident that this phone is original, and have no worries about my purchase.  I love these "one off" candlesticks. 

I have a Deveau candlestick that used a WE base and stem - all they did was put a plate over the WE markings on the base and call it a Deveau.  Maybe at this time Samson wasn't manufacturing anymore and used WE parts and weren't concerned as much about the markings. 

[wds]

Here's another Samson marked 20C.  Same button. 

[Jack Ryan]

Dave,

I'm not in a position to disagree with you.

As a matter if interest - here is the catalogue in the TCI library:
http://www.telephonecollectors.info/index.php/document-repository/doc_details/12231-samson-bull-51-1917ca-telephones-for-private-use

Its file name suggests 1917 which is probably pretty close.

Jack

[wds]

Here's another one Marked 20PC.  Also a marked Samson receiver.  Not many threads on the Samson, so I'll post more pictures as I find them.

[WEBellSystemChristian]

Not many threads on the Samson, so I'll post more pictures as I find them.

You could just add an 's' to the end of the topic. It could become an official topic for these interesting sticks!

[NorthernElectric]

I found this catalog full of Samson telephone product offerings.  There's a #136 desk stand on page 17 and a #130 desk stand that both have 1 button in the base (I can't see the button in the picture but the text describes it as having 'push in base')..  I didn't see a date in the document but archive.org states it's ca. 1910.