Charles Williams Jr. Boston, ringer

Pourme · April 21, 2016, 06:15:44 PM

I found this today at one of my local haunts. Inscribed on the bottom was "Charles Williams Jr Boston". A quick Google led me to much information. In the mid 19th century he manufactured telephone and telegraph equipment for Bell. His is the famous "coffin" phone. He had the first residential wired phone line attached to his factory. To me that makes this bell very cool.
My original intent was to refinish the wood, polish the bell and make it work, possibly to ring with the land line. The ringer has a broken piece.

Now I'm wondering if any restorative efforts I make will hurt the collectivity of the piece. I only paid $20 for it but don't want to hurt it for the future. I can't find any information on it online at all. This may be much ado about nothing. I thought it would look nice on the wall.

Anybody recognize it?

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rdelius · April 21, 2016, 09:28:51 PM

Nice find Ringer is for low voltage DC.will not work on telephone lines without a relay.most likely 1870s-1880s .I dont know if Charles Williams shops stayed in business after WE became the official mfg co in early 1880s

HarrySmith · April 21, 2016, 09:49:06 PM

IMHO - cleaning it up would be the way to go. As long as you maintain the original finish on the wood & metal it would not affect the value. Refinishing it would hurt but just a good cleaning would improve it's display appeal. The coil windings appear to need some work also. It looks like only the outer cloth wrap is damaged, perhaps remove some of the loose cloth & glue of shellac to hold the rest together. Your mileage may vary.

Pourme · April 21, 2016, 10:35:45 PM

What purpose would it have been intended for? ....so I shouldn't polish the gong?....I like polishing my gongs!

HarrySmith · April 21, 2016, 10:46:49 PM

Oh, hell yeah! Polish them up! I always polish my gongs too! Most all of hem are inside the phones and probably never get seem but I think it completes the clean up, dull, dark, tarnished gongs just don't look right! The few I have done with out side gongs where on subsets, I had Dennis nickle them and that was the first thing the buyer noticed!

Fabius · April 21, 2016, 10:59:03 PM

Quote from: HarrySmith on April 21, 2016, 10:46:49 PM
I always polish my gongs too! !

Do want you want to do! It's a free country. Don't let anyone tell you different.

Pourme · April 21, 2016, 11:07:02 PM

Thanks guys!....Now I have big weekend plans!....

dsk · April 22, 2016, 03:56:32 AM

It is several ways to get it ring on your landline, a relay + capacitor, and a battery(/power adapter) may be the easiest way to do it.
And yes, lit it shine.
It may have been used as a doorbell, or an alarm ringer from the beginning.

dsk

Sargeguy · April 22, 2016, 08:51:02 AM

I would not restore it. I would do a very careful cleaning with soap and water and that is it. Do not use any alcohol, wax, Restor-a-Finish or anything like that. This is a very early piece and is potentially quite valuable in the condition it is in now (if it is a phone and not a doorbell, etc). If you are not into early wooden phones you may want to consider selling it as is.

Sargeguy · April 22, 2016, 09:05:35 AM

Are there any patent dates on this ringer? I would expect early telephone related items to have patent dates prominently displayed. Williams made fire alarms as well as telegraph equipment prior to switching over to telephones.

Williams' shop and patents were bought out by Western Electric in 1882.

rdelius · April 22, 2016, 09:27:34 AM

My opinion just a doorbell ,not telephone related but special because of age and maker

Fabius · April 22, 2016, 09:57:40 AM

Leave it as it is! It may be a simple item but made by an historical maker,

Pourme · April 22, 2016, 01:28:27 PM

Quote from: Sargeguy on April 22, 2016, 09:05:35 AM
Are there any patent dates on this ringer? I would expect early telephone related items to have patent dates prominently displayed. Williams made fire alarms as well as telegraph equipment prior to switching over to telephones.

Williams' shop and patents were bought out by Western Electric in 1882.

I have looked closely and can find no pat dates at all....Part of a fire alarm makes more sense to me....

As of now I am not doing any restoration work.....I think it is a piece I want to hold on to because of the Williams name on it.

Pourme · April 22, 2016, 08:49:26 PM

Quote from: Fabius on April 22, 2016, 09:57:40 AM
Leave it as it is! It may be a simple item but made by an historical maker,

Quote from: rdelius on April 22, 2016, 09:27:34 AM
My opinion just a doorbell ,not telephone related but special because of age and maker

Quote from: Sargeguy on April 22, 2016, 08:51:02 AM
I would not restore it. I would do a very careful cleaning with soap and water and that is it. Do not use any alcohol, wax, Restor-a-Finish or anything like that. This is a very early piece and is potentially quite valuable in the condition it is in now (if it is a phone and not a doorbell, etc). If you are not into early wooden phones you may want to consider selling it as is.

As much as I wanted to polish the gong...I resisted the urge in the interest of the integrity of the piece. It did clean up pretty good. I even got some of the paint splatters off. To think of the history that took place in the shop that produced this item is huge. I'm still searching for more documentation on this ringer.

dsk · April 23, 2016, 04:39:25 AM

My more modern version looks like this, and has a DC resistance of 500 ohms, and a capacitor of approx 0.5 uF across the contact points.
My ringer is made for 24V

dsk

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Charles Williams Jr. Boston, ringer