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The Telephone on P. E. I. - Metal Desk and Wall Sets!
Member: Telephone Collector's International
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Western Electric WE20-AL Candlesticks
Perhaps the most beautiful telephones ever made were the candlestick style produced in the first third of the 20th century. Left: WE20-AL Western Electric Candlestick Telephone, patented Jan. 26, 1915 shown during its restoration. All non-original parts will eventually be replaced with originals. The WE20-AL was in production for more than a decade, replaced following WW1 with the WE-40AL with its all steel construction. Typically this phone would be painted with a black "japan" finish. This phone shows its underlying brass construction. I have not yet decided whether to lacquer it, as I love the brass! This set would be used with an external subset. Right: Another 20-AL stick with original black finish and all original parts. This one was kindly donated to the collection by a cousin. This phone required only new cords and a mouthpiece. |
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Electric N50-AL Candlestick
After dial service began to appear, Western and Northern Electric redesigned their candlesticks. The newer design moved the shaft of the phone further back on a more domed base to make room for a dial. The shaft was now made of steel. This newly redesigned phone was called the 50-AL, and was maufactured from 1919 till the late 30's. This newly acquired candlestick phone is Northern Electric's version, an N50-AL. To replace the fraying and disintegrating original cords, excellent reproduction cloth cords from Odis LeVrier's "House of Telephones" and a replacement for the original cracked earpiece have been installed. This phone came equipped with a Phillips dial, unusual, but not unheard of. This phone also came equipped with what is called a 635A "Bulldog" transmitter - compare it to the transmitters on the phones above! Inside the base was a schematic insert of the phone which I have scanned and made available - [Download PDF copy of insert]. |
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Added to the collection Aug 02, 2006, is a dial American Tel. & Telegraph 151AL candlestick. This is a wonderful phone, and has an original #2 dial made on May 7th, 1918. The finish on this phone is also original and magnificent! Prior to display, it has required only buffing and replacement cords. When received, it had modern white cords on it - luckily, the last time I worked on a candlestick, I picked up an extra handset cord, and had a mounting cord from another previous project. This phone was manufactured by Western Electric in the early 20's. The number 2AA dial is considered a rarity today. . (See more details on the Physical Telephone Museum of Prince Edward Island page) |
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Northern Electric 202
Photo of two Northern Electric 202 D1 elliptical based sets with F1
handsets. These were one of the immensely popular Henry Dreyfus designed
phones - the 202 series were built from the 20s till the late 30's.
These particular instruments were built in 1932 and 1936. Many people
nickname these "French Phones", as Dreyfus' design reflected
the influence of phones seen by him in France during WWI. |
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The dial version of the 202 pictured (right) wouldn't have seen service here, as it pre-dated our Island dial exchanges, but the non-dial 202's (left) would have seen service here in conjunction with N500CG or similar subsets. I have included the photo of the dial version, as it was extremely common elsewhere in Canada. The dial back-plate on it has since been replaced with a white porcelain alphanumeric back-plate as would normally be used with this phone. |
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Northern Electric Coloured 202 A Northern Electric 202 in moss green. Many 202's were refurbished during the 50's by the telephone companies and re-issued in colours. This phone was originally made in 1937 according to its internal stamp. It comes complete with a 6A dial and F1 handset. This is my only coloured 202. |
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Western Electric WE-211's
Photo of two Western Electric Electric 211 "Space Saver" phones. The 211's,
commonly miscalled "Space Savers" were used as office and warehouse phones. They
used an external subset, and could be located on the side of desks allowing the
entire surface of the desk to be used. These phones were manufactured by both
Western and Northern Electric. The true "Space Saver" was a trademark for a similar
phone manufactured by Automatic Electric. These phones would not normally have
the dial and hanger oriented in the same direction, as there is a danger of striking
the hook with your hand but is shown this way because it shows the dial and hook
well;also, the mounting location of one of the phones requires it be oriented
like this due to a nearby chair causing the same problem Just bear in mind, normally
the hook would be off to one side.. |
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The oldest, (left) was manufactured in 1939, and was supplied with 4H dial and an E1 handset with its distinctive spit-cup - the other (right) was manufactured in 1947 with a 5H dial and the acoustically superior F1 handset. Like the 202's shown above, these phones consist of a dial, switchhook, and handset only. They were used in conjunction with either a 634-A subset or with the later 685-A subset (as shown between the two 211's). Both handsets are attached to their respective phones with a cloth covered cord (cropped from photo during processing). These phones attach to a desk or other surface using a metal bracket and screws. The dial may be positioned in a number of positions to customize the phone to its mounting location. I have recently acquired a dial-less 211-G7 mounted on a 315H subset, with a G1 handset. I now have an example of the 211 with each of the handsets which were used with them, and in both dial and non-dial versions. On a dial-less 211, the number plate covers the top dial mounting hole. When I was in my teens in the sixties, I had an dial-less version of a 211 mounted on a desk in my bedroom. It was exactly like dial-less version mentioned above, only it had a type F1 handset. With no dial, I used to dial it by clicking the wires together. Believe it or not, with care and a lot of practice, it could be done! For a sixteen year old kid back in the days where few kids had their own phone (or even a legitimate extension phone), it was a source of great pride. Of course, back then, it was not allowed to use a phone which wasn't installed and owned by the telephone company. What a scoundrel I was. But that was half the fun! :-) |
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Electric No. 325J/L Call Box
The 325 Call box is a telephone set designed for outdoor use. They were commonly used as police and fire call boxes, and for outdoor courtesy phones. This one dates from the 1930's to 1950's. It consisted of a F1 handset, a 195A condenser, 101A induction coil, a 5H dial, and a R1AL ringer. Using a 29A bracket, it could be mounted on buildings, fences, poles, etc. as the need arose. Photos to right: Top, outside view; Bottom, interior view. This is a 325J, but converted at some time during its life to a 325L with the addition of a dial. Internal wiring is similar to that of a Uniphone #1. Note the vents at the bottom for the built in ringer. |
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Western
Electric/AT&T 151-AL Candlestick