AE 890 Calls 911

[stub]

Dave-F,
            Nice phone in your avatar. What is it ?   stub

[Phonesrfun]

Looks like a military Autovon card dialer key set to me.  Kind of fancy-schmancy.  (I wish I had one)!

[paul-f]

It is.  Here's a larger photo.

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=2813.msg42093#msg42093

[stub]

Bill- It is nice !!!!!!

Paul-f -  Thanks for info and pic.     stub

[Dave F]

Dave-F,
            Nice phone in your avatar. What is it ?   stub

Stub,

As others have noted, it's an AUTOVON Card Dialer -- A true joy, and one of the rare and special items in my collection.

I have always been a fan of AUTOVON sets, as all types are few and far-between.  In about 1969, I pulled the BSPs for the AUTOVON Card Dialer out of a C.O. dumpster in Los Angeles.  It was instantaneous love at first sight, and I have spent the past 40 years trying to find one.  Last year all the stars aligned and, in a series of events so remarkable that I still can hardly believe it, I latched onto this beauty.  It takes cards which are different from those used in regular Card Dialers, and I'm learning that it might take another 40 years to find some, as they appear to be at least as rare as the phone itself!

Dave

Edit (9/25/14):  Am still searching relentlessly for some AUTOVON cards.  Following every lead like a bloodhound but ,so far, all blind alleys.  Some ex-military people I have contacted remember seeing them, but nobody seems to have saved any.  Even in the heyday of AUTOVON, the Card Dialers were not common.  The quest continues...

DF