Research

 

European Phones of Bell and Western Electric

I am looking for information on the early phones of Bell Telephone Manufacturing of Antwerp. This is something of a grey area.

Although Bell had set up a factory in Antwerp, they found that many governments wanted a local manufacturing facility before they would consider buying Bell phones. In this respect Europe was unlike the United States where the telephone system was run by private companies. Bell therefore set up manufacturing arrangements with a number of companies to get the local presence that the governments required.

In Britain, many Bell components and possibly some complete phones were built by GEC / Peel Conner. What was the relationship between this company and Bell? Did they produce Bell parts under license or were they more of a subcontractor to the Bell company? Sterling Telephone and Electric also produced Bell / Western Electric parts, but they may have fot these from GEC. Or were they another contract manufacturer?

I am trying to compile a catalog of the Bell / Western Electric phones known to have been produced in Europe, and who made what. I would appreciate any help or information. The work-in-progress is here

 

Bakelite Phones of India Telephone Industries

What do you know about the bakelite phones of ITI? There are quite a few of these turning up now on the international markets. They seem to have had a range of interesting colors which were not made in Britain, such as pink, blue, and possibly a mottled "woodgrain" sort of finish. There are also some modern reproductions or renovated phones, apparently produced from the old moulds, with rather ill-fitting parts. They are versions of the old British Post Office 300 series.


I would like to get some more information on these if anyone can help. Any details of color, dates of manufacture, IPO model number, type of cordage used, details of any of these phones in your collection - any of this would help. If I can get enough information to work out something useful, I will put it on this site for reference.

 

Ericsson phones from countries other than Britain or Sweden.

I am compiling a catalog of Ericsson's early phones (pre-bakelite) and I am having trouble finding information on the phones built in each country where Ericssons manufactured. Were phones completely built in these factories, or assembled from imported parts? Which models were built? Did they continue manufacturing the phones of the companies they bought into? Of particular interest to me are the phones built at Buffalo in the U.S.A. Ericssons sold a lot of parts , both branded and unbranded, into the U.S. market. There are many phones in the U.S. called "Ericsson" which are not. Anything with an Ericsson-branded part seems to be listed as an Ericsson. This area needs more research. I could also use information on Turkish Ericssons, Spanish ones, Deckert & Homolka, the South American phones, and the phones of Societe des Telephones des Ericssons of France (I think that's the right name).

 

Dictograph.

I have finally been able to get enough information to put together a basic article on the Dictograph company. The information is still sparse, though. More information is needed on the suppliers of parts for their later phones, the dates for the different models, and the technical specs of the phones.

 

Phonopore (British)

Thanks to Linley Wilson and Marco Laudani I have been able to piece together a Phonopore history, with some good photos from their catalog. Both Marco and I would like to get photos of a typical railways office or signalbox with a Phonopore in its natural environment. Can anyone help?

 

Sterling Telephone and Electric (Britain)

Another prolific British company that made many overseas sales. Their factory was at one time a showpiece of British industry, but information on them has all but vanished. Who started the company? Who funded it?