1900s Antique Telephone Restoration
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 พ.ค. 2024
- A restoration of an early 1900s bridging telephone, produced by the Stromberg-Carlson Telephone Mfg. Co. (One of the earliest competitors in the telephone market). This particular style of the phone was often used for communication in rural areas, being described as “The Farmer’s Friend” in marketing campaigns for its extra power and ability to communicate over long lines with many phones.
In our research, the serial number records aren't online, but this specific Model 112 telephone was produced around 1904 at the company’s new factory in Rochester New York. It originally sold at a price of $14.75 (The equivalent of $458.54 today!).
The actual restoration was quite involved, requiring complete disassembly of all the phone’s components. This included rust removal, woodworking, nickel plating, repainting, sanding, and lots of polishing! Everything done was to restore the piece to its original condition, and preserve all its functionality.
Thank you, Jack Ryan and all those involved at telephonecollectors.info for the preservation and scanning of the documents featured in (and used for) this video.
Thanks for watching!
We hope you enjoy the video! If you have any questions or information regarding this phone, feel free to leave a comment, your feedback is always appreciated. Also be sure to like the video and subscribe for more #restoration videos!
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Check out the Instagram:
/ bg_restorations
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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:08 First Look
00:46 Let's See Inside
01:17 Disassembly
05:39 Deconstructed View Before
06:06 Cleaning
06:24 Transmitter Arm
07:31 Magneto Generator
13:03 Transmitter
15:34 Nickel Plating
17:15 Reassembling Transmitter
19:05 Hookswitch And Bell Ringer
21:26 Receiver
21:58 Wood Repairs
24:44 New Shelf
26:12 Deconstructed View After
26:40 Reassembly
33:32 Final Reveal - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
I was a telephone repairman during the 70s , 80s and 90s. This was quite interesting!
punchion, Déjà dans ces années là, c'était des téléphones en plastique avec quelques pièces encore en bakélite.
PAS EN BOIS !!
So this phone can never actually be used?
Ha!! No you werent Punchion . Trying to one up the guy who restored the phone? You sicken me pal!!
@@CleveIndians I was a repairman in Canada you dolt! Who the hell do you think you are! All I said was that I found the video interesting. And I'm not your pal!
@@punchionI dont know you so I assumed you knew it was a joke...relax
Amazing to believe that this was once the absolute height of technology - thank you so much for extending the life of this fantastic device!
I remember using one of these until I was a teenage. Mind you, it was only connected to the neighbors farm that was located 1/4 mile away. It was a great aunt. She alwayed picked up, and it was fascinating to us as kids. I'm 63 yrs. old.
Oh all the conversations that have been spoken through this marvel. I wonder the same about my own antique telephone sometimes, but that one is not nearly that old, only about 50
I like projects like these, it really puts how far technology has advanced into perspective. Beautiful restoration.
I must admit that I'm impressed you found one of these phones with nearly all the original parts.
Thank you very much! We enjoy working on these types of older technologies, more unique projects coming soon!
did you restore it to working order or just to be a decoration on the wall @@BGRestore, though I suppose with our modern ech it wouldn't be compatible anymore..
While the manufacturing processes have been hugely refined over the decades, it's pretty amazing to me that the fundamental technology, and its interfaces, remain compatible for 120 years. Also, can you envision the survival, and functioning, of your iPhone until 2140?
@@stevejohnson1685 Well, my Nokia will be found by Aliens when we are long extinct :) And it will have 2 bars of battery left
@@PrometheusV and no signal bars... Good as new 👍
🤣
I have a book from 1913 about telephony. After looking at that you could build a telephone company from spare bits and chewing gum!
I am on a POTS repair NOC Team for my work and I find stuff like this fascinating. Thanks for putting this up.
I've never seen the inner workings of a telephone from so long ago. Quite impressive and humbling to boot. Thank you for sharing!
I remember as a kid when my uncle found a magneto similar to this one in a scrapyard and brought it home. We attached two wires and some brass tubing to it and used it to drive earthworms up for fishing bait. LOL Good memories and a great restoration job.
I'm 72, from Ohio USA. My dad was the only lineman during WWII in a large, rural area. He bright all kinds of old and interesting items home to play with. We had 2 old crank phones, and a couple Frankenstein. Thanks for the memories!!
Look, everybody it's Mayberry r.f.d Of communications
I just discovered your video on this restoration and then watched the video of the typewriter. I don't know which is more amazing. Great job and heartwarming to see old technology brought back to life. God Bless what you do!
After all this time, we still associate phone signal strength with the number of bars we have as a holdover from when this phone was introduced. Thank y'all for such an amazing video and especially the restoration of a piece of history.
What is funny to me is that my grandmother still used her phone when I was a kid (70s). Operators and designations (instead of area codes) were disappearing in our area when I was a kid. Wow... Times have changed more than I thought, looking back.
Beautiful work. My grandparents had one until it was smashed to bits by a lightning storm one afternoon. Exploded it all over the room (1948). 30 years later I build a replica, after finding a pair of the bells. I still have it as a door bell in my front hallway. Thank you for the video.
what, no sand blasting, no vinegar, no filing? This is the best channel i have found yet.
I remember seeing a similar style phone that was modified. The area under the shelf was actually boxed in and part of the shelf was hinged allowing the shelf to lift up exposing a DTMF pad and where below was hidden the telephone network allowing the phone to work on modern lines. The magneto had been removed replaced by a false handle that could turn. The area where the magneto and the batteries once were housed was modified by removing the shelf allowing one to store a small personal telephone book.
Can you imagine sitting in an old kitchen during a thunder storm and looking up at the phone to catch sparks flying between the lightning arrestor contacts caused by a nearby strike or static buildup.
This was an interesting video showing how man used what technology and materials he had available to him to provide a useful tool.
I'd love to see it working, & the process of giving it new power.
Am I the only one getting anxiety watching him take this apart!? Lol. The amount of knowledge and skill you have is absolutely amazing, these phones are very rare and to restore one to new is amazing
I loved that this type of phone is still around, even if they are not currently connected. I have only seen these in black and white movies, never seen one in my life. Who knows someday, we may be needing these again, and it's great to know there are people out there that knows how they work, like B&G Restore. Great Video.
There's a group of people I watched last night talk on phones just like that with the correct switch boards and everything. Including operators
I love looking at antique machinery. So advanced for the times back then. But so primitive for modern times. It fascinates me.
I started working For Western electric in 1966 we fixed up quarterfew of these, It took me many years to find a Western electric Wall phone in an old barn , And a candlestick with a subset in a falling down shed, Love your work waiting for more, Take care!!!
That telephone takes me back a few decades. My Great-grandfather, in the mid-1960's, still had one of those in his little country store (very rural NC). How rural? Wood stove for heating, oil lamps for lighting. Thanks for the fond memories of days gone by.
Nicely done restoration.
I just found your channel as this was a recommended video for YT. 🙂
I already realized it so of, just how different; our telephones were built/constructed. ☎️ 📲 📴 📞 📵 📳 ☎️
Was it one of those stores where people would come in and tell the clerk what they wanted, and the clerk would go in the back and get everything for the customer?
@@brianbaratheon no, not unless they were getting meats/cheeses to be sliced, or flour/sugar to be weighed.
Might I ask what part of North Carolina because my family originated from the Newton Grove/Clinton area
@Dangerous Moonwalker Of what I first didn't know about David Graue is that: he was a Flat Rock North Carolina resident. Regarding what was first unknown to me. It's just that I've already looked at and read, most of his early black and white comic strip series. Most of his early works were created during the entire 1970s. It's this era in particular. ⚫️ 🐈⬛️ ◼️ ⬛️ ♟️ ▪️ ⚫️ 😳
Totally enjoyable! I just wish you had one or two others so they could be connected and function. Nice videography, great detail and pacing. Thanks so much for posting this!
Thank you so much, that means a lot! We're planning to have a future videos with more telephones, so stay tuned :)
Nice, nice! With patina! No paint, no shiny metal!
Excellent metal work restoration.
I have a 1908 Ericsson "Commonwealth" walnut phone with an ear/mic. handpiece. It was used on our sheep & cattle station until about 1960.
Your illustrated data shows the "earth return" system which can be used instead of two wires; as the name implies, the ground makes up half the circuit - in our situation this was for one mile distance to the other homestead on the property.
Many find this hard to believe since the two batteries only provide 3 volts but the transformer boosts the 'alternating voice current' enough to overcome the resistance of the earth!
Regards.
Stromberg Carlson old American 4/5 radios are still going strong today with channels restoring them. Good strong stuff.
I remember my Grandma having a phone similar to this model when I was as young as 4 years old. Im 59 now. So that would have been around 1967. Hudson Kansas kept using them into the 1960's and early 1970's when I was still a child. I had to stand on a kitchen chair in the livingroom to reach near the mouth piece. LOL Hudson only had a population of a few hundred people. The town is still active today with the flour mill and one cafe being the only businesses left. I remember talking to my Mother on this type of phone when I'd stay at my Grandmother's home in Hudson. They worked just fine to a child back then. I really enjoyed watching your video upload. It brought back lots of great memories. Thank you very much! 🤗
The restoration craftsmanship sometimes rivals the original work! Well done!
Thank you so much, we appreciate it!
My dad bought a brand new Stromberg Carlson stereo sound sistem back in the 1980's. Just by readint the brand of the phone many memories have came back to my mind 😞😞. My dad passed away nine years ago, thanks for making me remember him. Oh, btw, excelent restoration 😊.
I like how you guys give us history lessons along the project, so us the audience can learn while enjoying the restoration.
a friend of mine still remembers his ringtone from these phones when he grew up in a small town that still had these phones .
Europeans are truly an amazing people. The mind it takes to create something like this is incredible.
Very impressive restoration. I have done several, neither as in depth as yours. I removed all components and polished then clear coated everything plated and repainted what was black. Then refinished the wood and reassembled. While my restorations looked beautiful, sadly I lost the ring. On one phone I was very pleased to see the internal part of the ear piece date stamped 1909.
Very labor intensive job restoring one of these phones, definitely a labor of love, but worth it if you love them!
I had a friend growing up whose dad was an engineer for the local electric company. He had one like that in their basement. His dad had rebuilt it and it worked fine. In fact, they used it as their basement extension. The only thing you couldn't do was dial out.
Great Story, Thanks for sharing! We're planning on making a similar intercom system in the future (with another telephone) :)
I also had a friend (Barney) who did exactly the same thing - although we COULD ring out - just to the Operator - who had to connect you (still happened in the 1970's). I LOVED that phone! Thanks for bringing back a great memory of an old friend.
I have almost this exact model of phone hanging in my kitchen. It is 100% original, but has 2 things I added on. Unlike the model in the video, mine was field convertible to common battery (as opposed to local battery as the one in the video). I added a magnetic catch to the front cover, and inside - in the battery compartment - I mounted a touch tone pad from an 80's era 2500 type desk phone. It's just wired in parallel to the carbon transmitter, so no real modifications to the internal wiring were necessary. It still works, and I still use it. Probably my favorite of all my antique phones.
The wax to seal wires was amazing. The project was so amazing. Thank you
I like imagining he actually uses this from time to time to call his friends.
I have one that is a bit younger than this (it has a handheld receiver combined with the microphone). It is not an Ericsson but it is built by the Swedish Telecom Administration (Telegrafverket). I rebuilt it with a new microphone and earpiece and I put rotary dialler in the battery box. It works beautifully today!
Truly fascinating... in just 120 years
we made a giant jump in telephone
development! To imagine that this
device was the latest state of
technology at that time -- mind-
blowing, simply mindblowing...
Imagine it took half that time from first flight to a trip to the moon.
@@nickr1184 > Even more incredible, indeed; and also the technical development in general -- in the last century we've made more progress than the whole millenium before!
With projects like this, it's always hard to tell when you should stop trying to seek perfection and embrace the imperfections as part of the character of the thing you're restoring. Like, it's possible to keep sanding the metal to remove all of the pitting, then polish it to a mirror finish before plating, but it takes forever and the original parts weren't even that perfect.
So cool to see that a phone from two fellow swedish guys gets to live on. I wish i had that one. Really beautiful work
Great job in the restoration. Can't wait to see more restoration projects from you guys!
Covering the bare wires with wax was something I didn't anticipate!
It's interesting to see how they insulated wires to use before rubber :)
And there were real operators back then, too. But you would not nickel plate them, today, OSHA and all that working conditions.
Thanks for the nostalgic look back.
Respectfully,
NHG
Now That's Amazing! This phone was created in 1900s, And used during British Colony of Borneo Battle Squad.
My great grandparents had a phone like this in their home up until their passing in their 90’s. As far as I know it was still there when the house was sold. Seeing this brought me happy memories of them ❤️
Had a system of these set up among family members and outbuildings when I was a kid. Used electric fence wire and trees I cut for poles. Used it until the telephone company finally did away with the party lines.
My grandma and grandpa had one of these wooden box phones. I remember it. I think I was four or five years old at the time.
I’ve always been great at taking things apart, I can just never get them back together lol.
Maybe now you and LADB Restoration can have a phone call... Lovely restoration!
“5 bars allowed for a greater call distance.”
I’m lucky to get three bars on my cell phone!
But seriously, thank you for this! What a fascinating project!
😂😂
This must be 5G phone
I doubt that the number of bars has anything to do with call distance since all they are used for is to generate the voltage for the ring signal from the phone to the switch board.
I just purchased two antique Kellogg telephones, one is from 1892, and just arrived! I am wanting to restore it, but it’s in pretty rough shape! I am glad you went into detail on the magneto, as mine is very difficult to turn, I also think from looking it over it’s had some clumsy repair work in the past! The wiring looks rough, but your video gave me confidence!
Very nice restoration. The thing that really stands out is how tight the grain is on the original wood compared to the new wood used for the shelf. It probably would have taken old-growth lumber to even come close.
When you disassemble the magneto, you should have marked the position of each one of the bars, where it's at and which end faced which way. They are part of a electromagnet-based generator. Also the number of bars had nothing to do with the distance of the phone call, the bars only created the magnetic field to run the Magneto to ring the operator, which was usually located within a few miles of the person who owned that phone. As we saw on the TV show Lassie where the operator was in a lady's house. There would have been anywhere from two to four batteries in the bottom section of the telephone. The small wrench clipped inside the door was for disconnecting the lugs on the dry cell telephone battery. 1.5 to 1.7 volts each. However about 5 amp hours, but only a very small current over a long period of time could be drawn. Normally those phones operated around 35 Louis amps of rain current to as much as 90 milliamps of rain current if you were on a farm way out in the country. That was generated by the Magneto, at the telephone office bank. The batteries in the phone were used to provide the voltage to keep the circuit open for talking. You could actually connect that to a modern-day phone line You'll need 300 ohm 2 Watt resistors. Put one in series with each one of the legs of the telephone line. You will not be able to make a call but you'll be able to receive one, and the phone should ring.
If I recall correctly, the magnets had markings on one pole so that they could all be oriented (polarity) in the same way.
When I was watching this video, I was wondering if it could be connected to a modern line. It be really interesting to see it working.
I really read that whole thing right before I have to go to school.
Alan, great info. Thanks! You say you could receive a call using this phone but not make one. What would you need to make a call on it? Is it just because you couldn't dial a specific number with it? Clara over in Mt. Pilot isn't there anymore to connect your call for you??
@@DaveJOHAZ that's exactly right.
The days before plastic. Well, maybe bake light, but every piece is made of such quality. No wonder it’s still fixable after 100 years.
Wow, it was like a science class watching you revisit a bygone era. I was fascinated from start to finish. I congratulate you and thank you for sharing with us your passion and your love to perpetuate the beauties of the past. You have caught a new subscriber.
Glad you enjoyed it!
That was so interesting how it all worked, I couldn’t believe the waxed in wires on the back and the size of the batteries you showed. Pretty cool video, thanks!
Back about 1968, one of my great-uncles and a local scrapyard still had this type phone, in working order.
If I recall correctly, you'd crank it up, connect to the operator, and they would connect you.
I remember seeing a few others still on the wall in other places, dial phones had been existant for about 20 years but they were still around back then.
Back when almost everything came in a wood, or metal box! Nowadays, everything is plastic! I remember seeing this type of telephone on Lassie back in the day, although I've never used one. Great restoration!
Somewhere in my shop, I have just the reciever... Would have been good to donate it to the project. Well done!
I remember using one of these b4 at a family members house 🤣😅
I am 73.
When I was a little girl my grandparents communicated on a telephone like this.
They had a party line.
If the phone rang once it was for their house.
If it rang twice, it was a call for the family down the road.
Grandma would carefully pick up the receiver to listen in on the neighbor's calls.
I am sure that the neighbor lady did the same for Grandma's calls.
That's how the best gossip got picked up!
When I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, we had friends on a farm who still used a phone much like this. I loved it. Still do.
I'm so blown away by this restoration. I have been so curious about how these worked. Thank you for this video and thank you for sharing such an amazing piece of history with us. I look forward to many more amazing projects you all come up with.
You HAVE to call Mr Carlson's Lab with it!
I love my old phones. As long as the elements are working you can hook it to the system and it will work. Well answering anyways. My boys loved answering the phone with mine. I need to get it out and hook it back up. I have a nice little collection and still enjoy using them. Especially my old rotary units. Great video and awesome work.
That sounds SO cool! Maybe you should set up an old phone museum kind of thing!
Really enjoyed watching this. Very fascinating to see the old tech. Would love to see it up and functioning.
Lovely. I like how you cleaned all the original parts and no expensive machinery to get it done.
B&G Restore my darlings, it’s incredible to see a telephone from the past. When I was a small child occasionally I saw one of these telephones. The memories that are connected with the phone are stored in my head forever. Thank you for allowing me to remember those days from the past. Take care and stay safe 🌹😇🌈🌞👍🎈🕊🇺🇸❤️🙏
Interesting. Sitting here listening to this with a pair of Stromberg Carlson "Stereo 60" tube amps from around 1961.
My Great Uncle worked for Stromberg Carlson in Rochester his whole life. My father sold phone service in Iowa for Stromberg Carlson in the early 60's. Excellent work! It is very cool to see a restoration project with a close personal tie. Thank you.
That's amazing, thanks for sharing!
Great work! I also was a telephone repair technician back in 1979 for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph. I enjoyed seeing your restoration of the old phone. Tip, Ring & Ground are the 3 wires used on the phone line, I can't forget it....❤
So THATS where the term ‘bars’ came from! I never thought about that before! That’s so neat!
Wow!!! What a transformation.
Witnessing your expertise and the intricacies of the reserection these time capsule devices is such a satisfying experience. Thank you so much! ❤❤
You did a good job. Being a retired repairman I couldn't help but think about all the history was being scratched off. I have an old Kellogg wall phone and I haven't done anything to restore. I've kept it original.
OK, That was truly magical as I was in awe at the detail and clarity of this production. 35 minutes of pure enjoyment. Wow great production.
It's a good thing you restored this phone, I've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty!
Opening such history boxes shouldn't be without a ceremony
I have a 1890's Western Electric Double box with the original dry batteries from 1905. This video is going to get me starting to restore mine!
So amazing to watch. Soothing and satisfying for me.
But even more amazing, is thinking of the people who figured this all out back in the day, and all the individual parts involved.
I just love these antiques restoration videos. Time very well invested. Thank you for your videos. 🙏🏼
Glad you like them, our pleasure! :)
Watching the disassembly always makes me think of who put the telephone together in 1900...
Yeah, it's interesting to think about that. The original Stromberg-Carlson pamphlets feature great photos of all the workers in the various production/inspection processes.
I think I have the same telephone the writing shelf on mine is also missing great video I'm learning a lot by watching your videos thanks for restoring the telephone ☎️ and showing me what to do
E
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Cool! It is sobering that this still works but I couldn't keep a home phone working for five years after they broke up AT&T.
Used one of these many times on Grandma's farm, dang party line lol.
I have that exact phone. The people i bought it from took immaculate care of it. The only downside is the magneto is missing and the cord has started to dry rot. Mine has an install date written in pencil on the inside of October 1901.
I subscribed as soon as I saw you superimpose the missing shelf as a wireframe into the video. Well done
Glad you enjoyed, reading your comment made it worth the effort 😂 Thanks for subscribing!
Love the way you showed what was supposed to be there for the shelf, even tho the vid is 10 months old
Surely its audio is better than a modern smartphone... and beautiful
Nice honest resto. Glad you didn't go crazy on the wood.
I'm most impressed by the fact that it still had that small spanner with it.
Great job, though I would have used quarter sawn oak on the shelf in order to match the rest of the wood. It is nice to see these old phones restored.
Brilliant stuff. The iPhone of its time. Thanks for sharing the rebuild and restoration.
Personal experience with this phone: When I was a little kid in the 1950's (yes I'm old), my grandmother who lived on a rural route in Pennsylvania had a phone similar to this. It was on a party line. For all you kids out there that means everybody in the area shared one line. If you needed to use the phone and someone was on it you waited or cut in on them asking them to get off. Anybody could listen in on your phone call including the neighborhood gossip. It was like the Twittr of the olden days. To call out you had to crank it and the operator came on and you told her what number to call. Maybe you remember from the Andy Griffin show sheriff Taylor would have to get Sara on the line to dial out. At the end of this video when I saw how much the people had to pay it's no wonder my poor grandparents had kept that phone. Thanks for the memories and you did a great job.
Great skill and patience is a blessing restoring this work of art. Great job!
I have an old crank wall phone that looks like this one. I am sure it's made by a different company though. Was raised by grandparents in an old farm house. Th crank phone was used and was on a 5 party line our ring was two longs and a short. You had to go thru a switchboard with a live operator to call out. After that it was replaced with a heavy black desk rotary phone made out of plastic bakelite (sp?) stuff used back then. My crank bells are the original black and it still rings when you crank it. Wonder what these phones go for now as antiques? Fantastic restoration. Did not realize it had a bazillion parts to it. Sheesh!!
Nice job. My family had one very much the same while I was growing up in southern Ontario. In an electrical storm the lightning would flash between the bells and ring them, and that scared the life out of me as a little gaffer. A neighbour owned the local phone company, so anything more than a couple of miles away was long distance.
I can tell you as a vampire this was the best time to be kind of alive. You had the ability to call someone halfway across the world, and you weren’t always being watched or listened to. I ate wonderfully back then.
Part of the original "5G" network. Nothing could spread information faster that five grandmothers on a party line.
Beautifully done. I am working on a Northern Electric N1300. Great to see how it is done before I finish off on my project.
Thank you! Glad to hear that, we hope to see the finished project :)
Pay close attention, kids. This was a marvel of engineering once -- still is today, BUT one by far surpassed. Still, everything modern depends on the same basic ideas as this old phone did.
This is a video I enjoyed watching so much. thank you and great respect to you and to our forefathers; those brilliant minds that gave us all what we have today.