A telephone museum in Northern California, dedicated to preserving telephone history
Recently a 1968 Starlite AE 182 model was donated to us. It has a electroluminescent dial ring that is powered by 110 VAC cord right into the phone. Guess you would not want to use this setup on the edge of your bathtub… The Starlite 182 model was Automatic Electric’s answer to Western Electric’s Princess telephone.
The JKL Museum’s step-by-step emergency switching trailer was damaged beyond repair during the Butte forest fire on September 11 2015.
It was the first, and to this date only, item of ‘debris’ that has been removed from the museum site.
It took almost all day to remove the trailer from its location on to the main road. First it needed to be fitted with ‘new’ tires because one of them was burned away completely during the fire and the other one was exposed to extreme heat. It took a lot of maneuvering to get the trailer on the main road because there is no room to turn around on or near the museum grounds.
The following photos give an impression of the whole operation.
This week we received a very generous donation of two large original pencil sketches with a total of thirty vignettes by Stanley Meltzoff (1917-2006). The artwork, created for the 1976 Bell System telephone directory cover, was inspired by a piece known as the Gossips by Norman Rockwell.
Stanley Meltzhoff’s work has appeared in Saturday Evening Post, Life, Scientific American, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.
We are very excited about this donation. It’s a wonderful piece of telephone history.
In the art work, various characters from American history were depicted on the 1976 telephone book cover, each talking on one of the various types of telephones that were designed since Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.
The cover commemorates the 200th birthday of the United States and the 100th anniversary of the telephone. It appeared on more than 184 million Bell System telephone directory covers throughout the U.S.
Today we discovered this early Touch Tone dial, dated March 1966.
It is mounted in a Western Electric card dialer which has seen better days.
Can you spot what makes it special?
Early Touch Tone dial
See you at the San Jose Telephone Show – This Saturday – November 21
For more information about the San Jose Telephone Show:
http://telephonecollector.
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The San Jose Telephone Collectors Show on Saturday, November 21, is your
opportunity to bring unique, rare, or unusual telephones and other
telephone artifacts for the JKL2 staff to consider for purchase and/or
donation.
Thank You collector community and friends of the JKL Museum. The outpouring of support we have received in this difficult time has been overwhelming. It was a big loss for us and for telephone history and we are still reeling from it. We are in the process of answering all your emails and messages, a very large task for our volunteers and staff.
As plans for the future of the JKL Museum unfold, we will keep you informed.
Your support is appreciated and valued by all of us.
John K. La Rue
It has only been 6 days since the Butte forest fire destroyed the American Museum of Telephony aka the JKL Museum of Telephony.
The site is still smoking and fire crews were still putting out hot spots today.
It is our intention to rebuild the museum and this involves lots of careful planning which will take some time.
In the mean time we would like to thank everyone for their ongoing support and please check our homepage at http://jklmuseum.com/ to see how you can help the JKL Museum of Telephony.
The JKL Museum of Telephony wants and needs your help and assistance in restoring the JKL Museum for the benefit of all who are interested in the preservation of telephone history.
The JKL Museum was destroyed by the northern California Butte fire on September 11, 2105. A major loss of telephone history. After the initial shock wore off, museum management decided that the JKL Museum will be rebuilt! It is a decision that has heartened and emboldened the volunteers and contributors who made the museum what it was, and we are inviting you and your friends to help us make this happen. We believe it can once again be the very best resource and repository of antique telephone equipment, advertising, library material, real working telephone switching systems, and all else telephone. We are looking to replace these losses through donations of individual items or the donation of collections that current owners would like to see become a part of the new museum. We are seeking quality items to replace those lost in the fire. Our not-for-profit museum’s official name is the American Museum of Telephony. The museum is a 501 (c) (3) organization, and all donations of any kind are tax deductible. We stand ready to negotiate the donation process with any who wish to help us in our efforts to bring to life the JKL-2 Museum. Those who wish to assist in other ways may wish to help us purchase some of the assets that otherwise might not be available. Your time and expertise would also be a way for you to help us reach our goals.
Contact us if you can help!
For contact information please see our webpage at http://jklmuseum.com/
Help rebuid the JKL Museum 2
The American Museum of Telephony aka JKL Museum of Telephony was destroyed in a fire but we plan to rebuild something.
We do not yet know how, where or when but the JKL Museum of Telephony aka American Museum of Telephony is here to stay.
We hope to have more news soon.
The JKL Museum / American Museum of Telephony and surrounding residences were lost to fire last night (September 10 2015).
The community of Mountain Ranch CA where the museum was located may also be affected. We were told by firefighters that the museum burned to the ground. Currently no one can get into the area. The fire is called the Butte fire. As soon as we have more news we will post it on our website: http://jklmuseum.com
