Every collector dreams of being the person to uncover cities of lost gold, the next Tutankhamen’s tomb, or if not that, an overgrown, abandoned railroad depot packed to the rafters with relics and surprises. That hasn’t happened to me yet, but here’s something almost as good that did happen:
Click the photo above to read how I uncovered a stash of antique telephones that had been hidden in a warehouse for 60 years, new in their boxes. It may not seem like much to you, but for me it felt like I was Howard Carter opening King Tut’s tomb in the 1920s for the first time after thousands of years.
Has anybody else ever had an experience like this?
Murder Machines: Why Cars Will Kill 30,000 Americans This Year
Geeking Out Over the Bloody Legacy of VHS
The Existential Conundrum That Is the American Waste Paper Basket
TelephonesPeople started collecting phones shortly after Alexander Graham Bell patent…
Mari Tepper: Laying it on the Line
Nice Ice: Valerie Hammond on the Genteel Charm of Vintage Canadian Costume Jewelry
How Jim Heimann Got Crazy for California Architecture
Modernist Man: Jock Peters May Be the Most Influential Architect You've Never Heard Of
Meet Cute: Were Kokeshi Dolls the Models for Hello Kitty, Pokemon, and Be@rbrick?
When the King of Comedy Posters Set His Surreal Sights on the World of Rock 'n' Roll
How One Artist Makes New Art From Old Coloring Books and Found Photos
Say Cheese! How Bad Photography Has Changed Our Definition of Good Pictures
Middle Earthenware: One Family's Quest to Reclaim Its Place in British Pottery History
Fancy Fowl: How an Evil Sea Captain and a Beloved Queen Made the World Crave KFC
I came across a phone today.. Was given to me actually.. Can not find one similar in all the photos i have been going thru… A little help in identifying issible… Heres a brief discription… It is a metal stromberg calson wall telephone.. Bottom half of the face jad small rotary dial… Approx 2.5-3 inch in diameter… Hand held ear piece hangs on left side of housing… Mic.. Or speak into part located above dial on the face…. Also has the bells located inside t he housing
What an amazing find! Lack of a dial doesn’t mean that the phone was used only as an extension… it usually means that it was connected to a manual switchboard. You picked up the handset and waited for the operator to ask “number please?” You then gave the number you wanted, and the operator connected your call. One other comment has mentioned finding the word “tropicalized” stamped on the bottom of a phone like this. In my experience that usually means that some kind of blue solution has been pained on many of the screw contacts, and sometimes a very fine wire mesh screen has been put over the holes in the base, presumably to keep some kind of insects out. One tricky problem sometimes found is that the handset cord appears to be in perfect condition, but you hear a crackling sound when you flex it. According to a Kellogg catalog I have, the interior conductors were originally treated with some kind of flexible shellac to make them moisture resistant. Unfortunately it didn’t stay flexible with age, and some are unusable even though there is no apparent external damage. Congrats again!
I have a Kellogg wall phone in which most of the wires are run on the back board and are covered with a wax-like substance. Does anyone know what this substance is?
I have a kellogg wall mount oak crank phone, complete I would like to know if it can wire it into todays phone systems ?
I have recently inherited a Western Electric AT&T 520 Type “Explosion Proof” rotary phone. I was wondering if anyone could provide me with any information about this phone. I’ve tried contacting AT&T, but they were no help at all. The only thing I can find on youtube about the phone is how to take it apart.
Any information would be appreciated. Thanks