I have given up to get good batteries, so I have faked 2

[dsk]

  Telephone batteries are probably not what you should start to sell for a living, even when you would be alone in the market.
I local company could sell me 2 for 2200 NOK  or about $290   

So I made 2 fake batteries to my 1905 end station (last on the line) 1905 telephone made by Elektrisk Bureau.

dsk

[dsk]

It has been a pain to use this phone since 1968 when the automatized  but it is fun to have a working phone and be able to demonstrate how it works for visitors.

dsk

[Fabius]

There is a guy in the USA on ebay that sells all kind of refillable batteries that look like the old ones:

http://tinyurl.com/m4tdxku

[TelePlay]

And then there is this guy who only makes the labels for these batteries. I don't see any from the other side of the pond but I would assume he is open to designing one if you have good pictures of an original.

http://www.radiolaguy.com/info/Vintage_Batteries.htm

What's interesting about this site is that if you scroll about half way down, he actually gives instructions on how to make the battery case suitable for the label he provides. It's your choice of buying one from Fabius's link (lot of them on eBay all of the time) to going the "do it yourself" route.

[DavePEI]

If you are merely looking for a power source to power up these old common battery phones, a 3 to 4 volt cellphone switching supply (wall wart) works quite nicely. I use older Motorola cell supplies on all of my magneto phones and on the magneto switchboard.

Of course, you need to cut off the cellphone end of the lead from the charger. Spade connectors can be fastened to the wire, or the ends can be tinned.

On some, there is also a voltage sensing lead in the cable  you need to tie it and the positive lead together at the phone. While these do produce some hum, it is above the human hearing range, and outside of the reproduction range of the earpiece, and therefore are much better than a non-switching supply.

You will need one  for each phone. These can be had on eBay for a dollar ir two each if you watch for them. To me, this is the best option for them, being in the museum, and these eliminate the cost annual battery replacement. The cords from the wall wart can be led in along with the phone wire through the back of the mag. phone.

Dave