Okay! It has landed in my photo studio which of course gets converted into the laundry room on a regular basis.
Obviously a portion of the transmitter is missing but that seems likely to be the only major part that has wandered off. Two brass gizmos that are a part of the lightning arrestor block seem to be missing as well. The cord from block to the phone looks suitable to tie up a boat!
I’m still not really certain (not even remotely) what I’ve got here. Initially the only thing I could find was “C T Co.” stamped on the back of the receiver end of the handset. And of course a handset could easliy have been swapped out. As I got better light and took these pictures I unearthed another “C T Co.” on the Magneto and finally another “C T Co.” on the Ringer along with 1000 ohms. So....it looks like I’ve got a “C T Co.” something or other! Reading on the Bobs Old Phones web site ...
http://www.telephonecollecting.org/Bobs%20phones/Pages/Skeletal/Skeletal.htm...gives lots of info including that many companies made these and many or even all of the parts on these phones assembled by other companies were made by Ericsson and usually not branded Ericsson.
One statement on this web site says the early handsets had a knurled brass ring that holds the Bakelite disc to the receiver and soon after it changed to an all Bakelite cap. Mine has the knurled brass ring with separate Bakelite disc.
Elsewhere it is mentioned that in about 1900 the Ringer connections changed to two brass bars rather than the actual Ringer wire leads, Mine has the brass bars. So, after 1900.
AC110 & AC120 models have the lightning arrester on the ebonite deck but AC130 & AC140 models it is moved to the connecting block which is what I have. There is no direct implication that 110/120 model production ceased as 130/140 production began, different companies may have ordered one model rather than the other.
I am able to read the serial number, it is 1204231. The second to last digit, the 3 is hardest to read...it may be a 6 not a 3. But, this makes little difference, they were numbered sequentially and 1914 began with s/n 1202076 and 1915 began with s/n 1279176. So, mine would have been made very early in 1914. BUT, that’s if it IS an Ericsson serial number...it may not be an Ericsson Phone and I have no idea whether serial numbering was controlled by Ericsson or was stamped in the deck by Ericsson if they supplied that part.
I’m sure someone will have more info for me. It is encouraging to see that it appears that no major Parts have been replaced with other brands, just need to determine what “C T Co.” is!
Terry