$5 worth of something at an estate sale.

[Greg G.]

At least I wasn't totally skunked, I got a couple of AE ringers, a shell for what used to be a 534A subset, another ringer of some sort, and a switch of some sort.  Feel free to identify the latter two, and what you think they had it rigged for.  My guess is a doorbell or an external phone ringer in the shop.

[paul-f]

The switch is a good find.

You should find it in a Kellogg catalog from the 30s or 40s.  The styling goes with the Kellogg 990-type wall phones.  It could have been wired for lots of functions like line selection, ringer cutoff, station exclusion, etc.  There may be a model number stamped on the other side of the metal mounting plate.

[twocvbloke]

I can't help but notice that all the ringers appear to be 16.6Hz ringers, just a useless observation of mine really...

[Greg G.]

The switch is a good find.

You should find it in a Kellogg catalog from the 30s or 40s.  The styling goes with the Kellogg 990-type wall phones.  It could have been wired for lots of functions like line selection, ringer cutoff, station exclusion, etc.  There may be a model number stamped on the other side of the metal mounting plate.

On the inside of the mounting plate it is stamped in ink:

13

AF01-0

(I'm assuming those are zeros and not the letter "O").

[paul-f]

I believe the 13 is significant, and it's on the outside of the mounting plate.

[Icefire]

I can't help but notice that all the ringers appear to be 16.6Hz ringers, just a useless observation of mine really...

I have no proof of this yet, but I think 16.6 ringers are easier to make ring on modern lines than , say, 50 hz ringers. They're not SL, but close to 20, which is a commonly used modern level, correct?

[Greg G.]

I can't help but notice that all the ringers appear to be 16.6Hz ringers, just a useless observation of mine really...

Maybe not entirely useless, this whole thing was wired together in a weird way. 

[Greg G.]

I can't help but notice that all the ringers appear to be 16.6Hz ringers, just a useless observation of mine really...

I have no proof of this yet, but I think 16.6 ringers are easier to make ring on modern lines than , say, 50 hz ringers. They're not SL, but close to 20, which is a commonly used modern level, correct?

I was wondering that also, if they would work on modern phone lines. 

[Greg G.]

What is the other ringer with the dual clappers, one just sticking up in the air?

[twocvbloke]

What is the other ringer with the dual clappers, one just sticking up in the air?

I'd guess at it being a bias weight, if you compare the size of the clappers on the AE ringers versus that WE-style one, the AE weights are significantly larger, so I guess the 2nd "clapper" is just additional weight to make the ringer run at 16.6Hz...

[Greg G.]

What is the other ringer with the dual clappers, one just sticking up in the air?

I'd guess at it being a bias weight, if you compare the size of the clappers on the AE ringers versus that WE-style one, the AE weights are significantly larger, so I guess the 2nd "clapper" is just additional weight to make the ringer run at 16.6Hz...

It looks like it's supposed to have a cover on it?  What AE phone would this have been used for?

[Greg G.]

Here's what I'm left with after I broke everything down:

2 pieces of 3 conductor station wire.
An empty 534A subset shell.
A Kellogg terminal block.
A Kellogg switch.
3 16.6 hz ringers.

I'm wondering if the subset shell is of any use.  There are a couple of holes that were drilled in the back piece.  My first thought is to repurpose it for something.  If the ringers will work on today's phone lines, I may be able to use them, otherwise they go in the "junk" drawer.  Not sure what the terminal block was supposed to be used for, or the switch.

[Greg G.]

I just noticed that the terminal block was broken off of something else, so it will probably get the heave-ho.

[twocvbloke]

It looks like it's supposed to have a cover on it?  What AE phone would this have been used for?

Given that it appears to be based on a WE/ITT-Kellogg design, I'd guess it was probably used on an independent network's services in conjunction with a ringerless phone (space saver, princess, or equivalents, etc.), either that or it's just an additional ringer box, all guesswork though as I haven't a clue really...

Don't really know about the rest of the kit, the 2x ringer box could have just been a home-made thing, though why two ringers in one box, that's pretty odd...

[paul-f]

The Kellogg Bakelite Key Box is described on page 61 of Catalog 100 (1941), which can be found here:

  http://www.strombergcarlsontelephone.com/kellogg/PDF/1941_CAT_100_GENERAL.pdf

It may not be strange to have two ringers side-by-side if each was wired to a different line and the switch was used to connect the phone to the active line.  Do they have the same gongs? 

Is there a model number on the backplate of the rectangular ringer without a cover?

Here is a low res copy of the info on the key box from Catalog 100.  (Posted with permission from Kellogg Mike.)