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A Selection Of Interesting Telephone Sets

Welcome to my private telephone collector's website, I'm mainly collecting phones with some additional switches, small switchboards etc. But the're simple telephone sets too.

In this place you'll find some English general information and a few typical telephone sets. By clicking the picture you'll get more detailled pages.

 

~1900
Local Battery (Magneto)
LB-Table Set
Televerket AB 112

The first practically-realised voice connections were made by directly wired BELL-telephones, but already some yars ago the Germen REISS demonstrated the use of "microphone", battery and telephone - the finally most used principle today.
At the beginning the batteries were placed close to the singles subscribers instruments - the so-called Local Battery System (LB).
A magneto was probably used for ringing the remote station .

 


Switchboards came in use to random connect several stations. A drop-down indicator shows the calling line, for connections mostly cords were used. The end-of-call ringing releases an other indicator.
Very small switchboards were of the cordless type. A plug in a matrix of sockets connects lines as desired.

~1900
PBX Switchboard
Plug Switchboard
10 Lines (Televerket)

~1910
Intercommunication Set

Intercom For Home Use
(Wall Set)

Iintercom sets with direct line acess were introduced to reach the other subscribers without any operator's help. Especially for private use the telephone sets were of more simple construction, f.e. single wiring, battery ringing and doing without induction coils.


It was very costly to maintain all the remote subscribers batteries. At the beginning of the 20th century central located batteries were introduced: CB-Systems were made.
To prevent waiting times for the switchboard operator automatic exchange systems were invited and became more and more in use. By turning a finger wheel ("dial") the subscriber himself established the connections. Rining, charging and terminating were also automated..

 

1908~
Dial

Dial Table Set With Counter
K.T.A.S. (Danmark)

~1920
Interthrough Switch

Intertrough Switch
(Wall Set, Estonia)

For small office use so called "intertrough switches" came in use. That are small switchboards for both one exchange and extension where the connections are made manually. Mostly they are powered by subscribers line from public exchange. The extension's set was probably a simple subscribers instrument.

Afer introducing Private Branch Exchanges the number of users rapidely increased. Internal calls were free of charge but mostly all phones could share the limited lines to the public exchange. Small manual line-powered switchboards in a great variety came in use.

1913~
PMBX Switchboard

P.M.B.X.-Switchboard
1 Exch. + 2 Extn.

1925~
Intercommunication Set

Intercommunication Set SA 25b
(Germany)


To get a direct and random acess to all exchange lines and extensions intercommunication sets up to 6 exch. and 31 extn. were employed. Some of those instruments became very large and hard to operate. The wiring of the whole system was extremly complex and expensive.
You're invited to enjoy the complete collection by clicking Home and Index or directly here.