Stromberg Carlson Tapered Shaft

[wds]

I won this on Ebay, contest #143.  Cleaned up real nice.  The bottom of the phone is marked 1920, Fairbury Nebraska.  I googled Fairbury, and it's a very small town, about 3-4000 people.  The original downtown from the late 1800's is still intact, but I couldn't locate a hotel.   I'm going to contact their city museum and see if this phone sparks any interest. 

[Sargeguy]

Congrats on the win, it's always nice to have a history attached to a phone.

[wds]

I received a response from the town museum about the hotel:

"Hi William! Here is my most likely guess as we had several hotels thru the years starting in the 1890's. The most likely of them all is the Mary Etta Hotel which was 4 stories tall in the downtown area. It was elegant in its' time and the interior was ornate. Cherry wood everywhere. The front desk area was an occasion all in its' own right. It was built in 1904 ( I think), and torn down in the 1970's for use as a truck lot for a local car dealership. How sad that it was not saved."

Tore down the grand hotel to make room for a car lot.

[Sargeguy]

Trucks need homes too!!!

[Fabius]

As Joni Mitchell sang "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot"

(Big Yellow Taxi 1970)

[wds]

Here's a picture of the hotel from about 1910, and the 2nd is from the 40's.  Haven't been able to determine when they added the 4th floor.  My guess is a lot of phone calls were made from this phone.    I noticed the telephone poles are gone in the 2nd picture.  Would they have buried lines back in the 40's, or is this picture a victim of photoshop?

[Fabius]

Nice Western Union sign in the 2nd picture.

[LarryInMichigan]

Here's a picture of the hotel from about 1910, and the 2nd is from the 40's.  Haven't been able to determine when they added the 4th floor.  My guess is a lot of phone calls were made from this phone.    I noticed the telephone poles are gone in the 2nd picture.  Would they have buried lines back in the 40's, or is this picture a victim of photoshop?

I have seen pictures of hotels and such with unsightly things like utility poles missing on brochures and postcards.  Or, perhaps they had wireless phones

Larry

[Dennis Markham]

Dave, congratulations on your phone.  It is very cool that you know the history of where it is from as well as the photos of the hotel.  Perhaps we'll hear more about it as you continue your investigation.

~Dennis

[wds]

It's not very often you can trace a phone back to the exact building it was used in - that is pretty cool.