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Northern Electric Magazine Advertisement - 1967

Started by Ktownphoneco, August 24, 2016, 01:40:04 PM

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Ktownphoneco

I spotted this magazine advertisement being sold on eBay about 1-1/2 weeks ago.    I found it interesting, in that it shows what's referred to as a No. 200 desk set, a "Contessa" telephone, a 500 series set, but it doesn't say so, and it uses Northern's term for Western's "TouchTone" DTMF dial pad, which is "DigiTone".    Northern sold "Contessa" sets to independent telephone companies, and "Princess" sets to Bell Canada.
The last image in the advertisement appears to be a Northern N1150-AL ( equipped with a Northern 4H dial ), which was Northern's version of the anti side tone set which Western sold as a 1051-AL.
But there's an obvious problem with the set.    See if you can spot what's wrong in this image.     I'm surprised that image was approved for printing and distribution.

Going by the code 6067-1, at the bottom right, I'm assuming the advertisement was prepared in January 1967.   

Jeff Lamb





unbeldi

#1
The date of the ad is also given by the date of 1924 for the candlestick plus 43 years as mentioned in the description of that set.

The Western Electric equivalent was the 151AL, not 1051AL.
But this cannot be an anti-sidetone instrument as the cited date in the ad states 1924.
The 151AL didn't happen until 1930/31.
In ca. 1924, Western Electric indeed introduced the 51AL, which is also known as a 1051AL, per catalogs, when equipped with a transmitter, receiver and cords. 51AL was simply the bare desk stand with perch only.

The image does appear to show a no. 4 dial, but the detail of the finger stop is hard to ascertain.  In high magnification, it appears so.
But I think the intent was to show not an exact specimen of the 1924 desk stand, but the advent of NECo's first dial telephone and so such inaccuracies may be forgiven.

unbeldi

#2
Did NECo in fact make a dial desk stand first in 1924?

WECo's 50AL is usually dated to 1919.  Was NECo's first a 50AL or the 51AL ?

PS: Based on the 1927 catalog, No. 3, they were still offering 1020-AL/EL and N1050-AL/EL desk stands that year.  The 1050 appears to have an AE-style N10 dial still.
So that answers my initial question.

poplar1

The ad shows a Western Electric 51-AL base rather than a Northern Electric 50-AL base. Also, it shows a 706A receiver rather than a 143 or 144. Northern never made 51-ALs or 151-ALs.

GRover, Toronto's first dial central office in 1924, presumably used N-50ALs.
"C'est pas une restauration, c'est une rénovation."--François Martin.

unbeldi

Here is what the 1920 catalog shows for dial instruments:

Ktownphoneco

Yes, Neco made a dial set in around 1920 as you have pointed out.    It was a series circuit set - N1020-UN, also as you've pointed out.    Below the stem, it looks a lot like A.E.'s step base, but most likely made in Montreal.    The series circuit subscriber set for the N1020-UN, is a Northern N295-E.

Poplar1 -  You win the prize.   Northern have made mistakes in a number of catalogs over the years, and obviously in a few magazine ads as well.      Northern made an anti side tone set using a Northern 4H dial on a normal Northern "bulbous" base.      It was called type "N1150-AL" with a 4 conductor mounting cord.      It was made in the mid to late 1930's as best I can tell.      It's listed in the N.E. T6 Second Edition Catalog - 1937.     I uploaded the base schematic to the TCI Library some time ago.    I've also attached it to this post.      I have no idea what the "GRover" exchange in Toronto used for dial sets, but if I had to guess, I'd agree, most likely 50-AL's.     The N1150-AL desk stand was the first to use the Neco made, W.E. type 4 dial, with the spring set developed in the U.S.A., but not used by Western, only Northern.

Karl ... The first "50" series set was an N1050-AL, but as I mentioned above, and which you've already mentioned, the N1020-UN was the first dial set as far as I've been able to tell.   There are too many gaps in the catalog sequence, and General Catalogs get mixed in with "T" series catalogs to keep things in accurate chronological order and assign specific dates to a specific device.

Remember, Northern did not use the W.E. patented type 2 dial with the externally mounted finger stop.    They used the A.E. style dials right up until they started producing the N1150-AL anti side tone desk stand in the later part of the 1930's.

Did I miss anything ?

Jeff

Ktownphoneco

I think we're getting to the point that this topic needs to move to another category, but in the mean time, here's a picture of the inside of a Northern N295-E series circuit subset that was used in conjunction with the Northern N1020-UN desk stand.    It's not great, but I didn't take the picture.

Jeff


TelePlay

Quote from: Ktownphoneco on August 24, 2016, 05:31:00 PM
I think we're getting to the point that this topic needs to move to another category . . .

Noted!

In process of finding a new home. Stay tuned . . .

Ktownphoneco

John  ...   How about under "General Discussion" ?

Jeff

TelePlay

Quote from: Ktownphoneco on August 24, 2016, 08:37:39 PM
John  ...   How about under "General Discussion" ?

Done!

If you change your mind (or anyone convinces you of a better home for it), it can be moved again, and again, and again . . .

WEBellSystemChristian

It still amazes me that NE and WE considered the dialing "musical" tones as a major plus to TT service!

I also resent this statement:

"The 1924 Pedestal Desk Dial Phone: not so stylish by todays standards." It was looked at as a bulky and rickety old phone, but the space in time between that and the 1500 vs the 1500 and today is actually shorter.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford