Bell System Equipment in service 45 years!

[captainmoody]

I was just thinking about the items I use every day. Downstairs is the '62 WE phone system, 1970 Whirlpool Imperial Mark XII washer, upsatairs a WE "Merlin" system, a 1950 Sunbeam T-20 toaster, Sunbeam egg cooker from the same year, 1964 Hoover DAM, 1968 Steelcase desk, 1964 RCA CTC-16 color "roundie" tv (even though I used to repair them, I watch very little tv), 1969 Harman Kardon stereo, 1969 Teac A-6010 reel to reel.
Looks like the newest is my Merlin phone system, it was made in 1985.

 

[fnelson487]

How Do You Like This?

A Western Electric 556A switchboard with manual circuits. I love the key systems. All Western Electric equipment was built to last through a nuclear explosion! Everything hooks up in the back of this fabulous piece of furniture. I have the Western Electric phones on my first floor hooked up throught this baby and they work in "night service." Even the touch-tone ones! What a design. That is our own Terry Lattz. "How may I help you??"

 

[dalangdon]

LOVE the old switchboard! What is "night service"?

 

[volvoguy87]

Old Phones

When Ma Bell owned all the phones and was responsible for their maintenance and repair, it was to their advantage to build them tough. Today I use a pre-war WE 302 every day, and he sound quality is the best. I found a company that makes parts for old Bell System phones and built myself a candlestick from parts, which I used in my dorm rooms throughout college & grad school. Today I use it at my office. I keep it out in the conference room (a small office for a small historic preservation company). The only problem is that visitors and clients keep accidentally picking up the reciever, not knowing that the phone is both real and "live," sometimes interrupting conversations taking place on line #1. I keep having to remind people that although the technology may be old, it is still VERY effective. In the event of a power failure, it is the only phone in the office that will work.

The link is to the company which makes parts, Phoneco inc.

Enjoy,
Dave

http://www.phonecoinc.com

 

[petek]

Night Service is when say the office closes for the day and all the incoming calls are routed to a single phone or a particular area of the business that is manned all night..Like the security guards desk or the desks for the folks who are working the night shift to handle. How they did it on those old key sets I dunno but with the electronic switchboards it's just a matter of programming

 

[rp2813]

Dave, I tried your link and it gave me a blank page. I'm looking for a transmitter for an original WE 202 handset and am hoping Phoneco Inc. has them.

 

[volvoguy87]

Phoneco

They should have them. I have purchased a few parts for my WE 302, and built my candlestick from their parts too. I don't know why the page is blank, I checked it and the address is correct.

Dave

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Dave, I'll keep trying. Again today it's taking forever to load and then I get either "page cannot be displayed" or a blank page with "Done" displaying in my status bar.

 

[pdub]

Interesting History Video

For those of you interested in Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies.
(now Alcatel-Lucent)

Patrick

 

[rp2813]

Dave, I finally got into Phonecoinc. Didn't see any transmitters for my 202OB so I submitted an inquiry to see if they carried them or could re-build mine.

Thanks for the link. I would love to get the correct handset matched up to my beloved 202 again (currently using an early 302 handset on it) and the people at Phoneco might be the ones who can help.