Brown Cloth Bottom on an AE40

[Doug Rose]

I have seen black a few times but never brown. Your thoughts??....Doug

[Ktownphoneco]

I was under the impression that factory A.E. 40's used nothing but the black rubber circumference ring as a base padding.   It was a visible steel base plate, the Monophone decal  with the A.E. name and patent dates, the rubber circumference ring and that's it.   I've never seen any other factory factory material used.    Looks like a "it seemed like the thing to do at the time" situation, and it looks weird.
But then again, I've been wrong before.

Jeff Lamb

[rdelius]

Black felt was also used. Mostly during wartime and some rebuilds.there would be a paper patent lablel instead of a decal.That brown felt looks newer , not the right texture

[Ktownphoneco]

Thanks for that information.    I wasn't aware of that, and have never seen one "live and in person" with anything other than the rubber ring.   But it wold make sense.   I would imagine rubber was in big demand during the war years.

Jeff
 

[Doug Rose]

Black felt was also used. Mostly during wartime and some rebuilds.there would be a paper patent lablel instead of a decal.That brown felt looks newer , not the right texture

I have to replace the cords so I will get some inside pics tomorrow. Sure looks real to me, but I have been fooled before.....Doug

[AE_Collector]

Yes I have seen black felt with the paper label glued to it so I am convinced that at least black felt bases are original to some of these phones. They are usually the oldest looking AE40's which puts them in the WW2 timeframe. Since rubber was extremely hard to obtain for anything other than the war effort I have come to the conclusion that this was a work around for the rubber shortage but I have nothing else to confirm that.

While we might think that a rubber base ring on an AE40 isn't much rubber, I read a war time article in our Telco employee magazine pointing out that our refurb shops could not get the little tiny rubber point on a woodie or candlestick receiver hook that pushes against the spring pileup.

I haven't seen Brown felt before which makes me suspect a DIY recover job or maybe a refurb company rebuilding 40's once the rings were unavailable...or just keeping costs down.

Terry

[Doug Rose]

Older AE40 with the metal dial holder, but the brown felt looks newer...Doug

[LarryInMichigan]

It sure looks like a homemade job to me.  The rubber probably crumbled and someone didn't want the phone scratching their table or desk surface.


Larry

[Doug Rose]

Fellow member Marie Prewitt made similar pull covers for 202s and made a custom one for my WE208.....Doug

[AE_Collector]

See if you can catch any two letter date codes on anything Doug. The dial could have but was also an item frequently added later. Transmitter and receiver capsules always have them and the two gray condensers in the base almost always do as well.

Terry

[Doug Rose]

Terry....I will check it out when I add the cords.   Enjoy Maui....you are an Island way from the lava!

[AE_Collector]

Yes, if we don't get hit by the asteroid passing earth less than half the distance from us to the moon today, we will go back to having  someone on volcano watch 24/7. Ah, paradise!

Terry

[Doug Rose]

Terry....here are the pics of the inside. The other AE40 Jan got also has the metal dial housing as well. It is a little more dirty inside. This is a working phone.  Schematic calls for a frequency ringer, but it rings LOUD. Hope the numbers help....Doug

[AE_Collector]

It has been changed to a SL Ringer now (if the drawing indicates it originally had a frequency Ringer) and likely the small condenser on the side was changed along with the Ringer. The "GL" on this condenser should indicate about April 1943. Most likely these parts were new then as how many old AE40/50 Parts would be around in 1943? So the original phone had to be older than that.

This doesn't help determine what the story is with the Brown felt base, might it have been original to the phone, or added at that point in 1943, or was it added much later as a simple replacement? We will likely never know.

Was the replacement coil cord on it Doug or did you add it? Check the transmitter and receiver capsules for date codes.

Terry

[Doug Rose]

Both cords were beyond hope, so I added new cords. I'll check the handset elements tomorrow......Doug