American Electric Wallset

[G-Man]

Since questions occasionally arise concerning certain features about American Electric telephones I have posted an eBay link that contains a series of good quality photographs of a wooden wallset. Please ignore the insane price the seller has affixed to it.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-American-Electric-oak-2-box-114-Year-old-phone-outside-terminal-receiver-/321363675356?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ad2c488dc


Also shown are the BINDING POST for connecting the incoming line and ground; note that they are not FUSES as some have previously speculated.

[dsk]

No fuse, but a "spark gap", and holes for a shorting pin for use in bad weather.

dsk

[G-Man]

No fuse, but a "spark gap", and holes for a shorting pin for use in bad weather.

dsk

Yes, a lightening arrester with a connection to ground was common on sets of this vintage but shorting out the line was not standard practice on American sets since it would leave the other (typically 15-20) subscribers without service.



While some manufacturer may have provided for this option, I don't recall ever seeing it on any of the magneto instruments we removed from service when cutting-over to dial service.