Western Electric
The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania sign
Today several signs were mounted in and outside of the museum. Something interesting was discovered while mounting a Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania sign.
The old 1964 Bell System logo was covered with the 1969 Bell System logo. The replacement 1969 Bell System logo has now been mounted above the sign. You can see the mounting holes in the sign were the replacement logo was mounted. It must have been a lot cheaper to create covers for the old logo than create more signs.
The sign is a very heavy one that has been cast in bronze.
The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania sign
Western Electric 440EA
A Western Electric 440EA telephone set
We recently acquired two Western Electric 440EA telephone sets. They were NOS (New Old Stock) but very dirty.
The pictures show one of them, the before and after result. It still needs a proper dial card and designation strip but I think it looks much better now that it has been thoroughly cleaned.
The 440-type telephone sets are 4-button key sets arranged for one hold (nonlocking) and three pickup (locking). They can only be used with a 1A key system.
Western Electric PicturePhone Model II
We thought you might enjoy this photo of the Western Electric PicturePhone Model II:
Western Electric PicturePhone Model II (June 1970)
“PICTUREPHONE® sets come rolling along conveyor belt toward final packaging at Western Electric’s Indianapolis plant. Most of Western Electric’s 19 plants funnel parts to Indianapolis for final assembly in preparation for the inaugural of PICTUREPHONE service on July 1 in Pittsburgh by the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.”
For more information about the Western Electric Picturesphones see:
- http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/telephones-picturephone.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videophone
- http://www.corp.att.com/attlabs/reputation/timeline/70picture.html
- http://long-lines.net/tech-equip/Picturephone/BLR0569/picturephone.pdf
PDF of the May 1969 Bell Labs Record about the Western Electric PicturePhone Model II
GPO (BT) Vision of the Future
Happy Birthday, Trimline!
Happy Birthday, Trimline! ??? Guess you just missed it too? According to Events in Telephone History by AT&T, August 2 1965, was when “Michigan Bell became the first company to sell Trimline phones on a companywide basis.”
Interested in reading more about the Trimline? Check out the upcoming August 2015 issue of the Telephone Collectors International publication Singing Wires Journal. It contains an article “From Butt Set to Beauty” The Trimline is 50 Years Old by Paul Fassbender.
The JKL Museum of Telephony collection contains many antique telephones and a few not so antique. There are several telephones in the JKL Museum collection that are related to the Trimline development.
You can check them out on our site in the virtual exhibit “Pre—production models, prototype, display telephones, and related objects.”
Look for the Demitasse, Schmoo, Contour, Trimline I, a golden Trimline and others.
You are also welcome to come and see them for yourselves at our telephone museum. Check out our homepage or use the contact option in the menu bar to get in touch.
Also don’t forget to check out the Trimline page at Paul Fassbender’s site
Western Electric 1964, Model I, Picturephone
Last week Jerry & Chris managed to get one of our Western Electric 1964, Model I, Picturephones working. There is still work to be done but we hope to be able to put this on display at the JKL Museum.
For more information about the Western Electric Picturephones:
- http://www.paul-f.com/wepic.html
- http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/telephones-picturephone.html
507B Cordless PBX switchboard paperweight
We added a cute item to our collection, a 507B cordless switchboard paperweight.
On the bottom of the 507B Cordless PBX switchboard paperweight it reads:
“The 507B cordless PBX switchboard is a single position , self-contained unit having a handling capacity of 5 central office trunks and 12 station lines.
This switchboard is used by a receptionist in a small business office. The design of this streamlined model is in keeping with the modern trend of compact office equipment.
Memento of your visit to WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, Inc. Kearny Works”