AE Candlestick

oldguy · July 27, 2019, 08:13:10 PM

So, I picked up another candlestick today. off of Craigslist in Sacramento CA. I paid $50 for it. It looks very similar to my AE21 but my AE 21 has a recessed dial, this one has a raised dial. the base on my 21 is Bakelite base & this new phone has a metal base I would appreciate any information on this phone.

oldguy · July 27, 2019, 08:15:29 PM

Here are a couple of pics of my AE21

rdelius · July 27, 2019, 08:39:54 PM

I suspect that the earlier type 21 stick had the dial mounted on the surface and the later one recessed. The type 24 dial would fit both but the earlier smaller dial would not mount in a recessed hole.

Jack Ryan · July 27, 2019, 10:33:30 PM

In 1930 the AE 21 gained the Bakelite base of the AE 1-A so that the dial became recessed. Prior to that, the base was brass and the dial surface mounted.

After 1930, the metal base remained an option but it was modified and included a metal sub-frame so that the dial surface mounted. The same optional metal base was available for the AE 1-A.

Jack

oldguy · July 30, 2019, 01:35:02 PM

thanks for the info guys.

HowardPgh · July 31, 2019, 02:42:07 PM

Having the molded bakelite base eliminates all the extra parts needed for the terminal strips. AE also made a base like that to retrofit manual Western Electric sticks for dial use.

rdelius · July 31, 2019, 05:42:26 PM

They also made a similar base for Kellogg non dial sticks also.

Jack Ryan · July 31, 2019, 09:32:45 PM

AE made a lot of dial conversion kits - many were generic but some were for specific brands like WE & Kellogg.

In catalogues, AE often showed WE telephones with AE conversion kits fitted. I wonder if that was a poke at WE?

Jack

rdelius · July 31, 2019, 10:50:32 PM

Many of the dial conversions by Autelco (AE) were wartime to convert old obsolete equipment to fill shortages .The telephone companies could not buy new telephones.

Jack Ryan · August 01, 2019, 12:48:09 AM

Quote from: rdelius on July 31, 2019, 10:50:32 PM
Many of the dial conversions by Autelco (AE) were wartime to convert old obsolete equipment to fill shortages .The telephone companies could not buy new telephones.

While there were wartime conversions, the conversion kits were sold when there was a lot of auto upgrades happening. These conversions didn't usually happen during wartime. Many of the conversion kits were advertised between WW1 and WW2 and it was more about reusing the old CB and magneto telephones to save money.

WE also sold conversion kits - mostly to convert wall phones. There were plenty of other conversion kits available and some were pretty ugly. Again, these were for upgrading telephones in the field when the exchange upgraded to auto.

There were kits available after WW2 as well but I don't recall seeing the candlestick kits then - just the wall phone kits.

Jack

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AE Candlestick