The famous Kellogg Reverse Type Transmitter

[davidbholcomb]

I have spent the day trying to find out as much info as I can on my Kellogg desk stand. I have been focused on the transmitter since it does not work and one of the  joys of the hobby is having this stuff work. I figured I was going to have to replace it since the phone worked in all aspects other than transmitting and I had placed another transmitter in the circuit and it worked. Now I needed to know what it was that I was going to have to replace. I discovered on this site that the number on the front was a serial number (649142-L) and that the phone was a local battery type. Then in the Kellogg Bulletin #91 of June 1916 I found the piece on "The Famous Kellogg Reverse Type Transmitter. I then knew what I was looking for. A short time later I found on Google "Telephony" Volume 72 Number 7 from 1917 and it contained a neat article on the serial numbers of the transmitters. It turns out that only the first million were numbered and none after Jan. 1912. So I guess mine would date from around 1908/9 or so. The article also told of a story of a very early transmitter being returned to the shop for repairs and I just had to look at the little wire on mine. Believe it or not mine was also broken and you could only really see it with a magnifying glass. So I am off to repair it and hoping that it works. I thought I would post in case anyone else might find the serial number info helpful in dating their CS. Below are images of the articles and my transmitter.