Wall telephone with battery box, 1880-1940

Made:
1880-1940 in unknown place
Wall telephone with battery box Wall telephone with battery box Wall telephone with battery box

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Wall telephone with battery box
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Wall telephone with battery box
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Wall telephone with battery box
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Wall telephone with battery box, with Delville transmitter and magneto calling, unknown maker, 1880-1940.

Wall telephone with battery box, Delville transmitter and magneto calling, unknown maker, 1880-1940.

Early telephones used batteries for producing the speech currents and a hand-cranked magneto for generating the alternating current needed to ring the bells. To make a call the caller turned the magneto a few times and then lifted the handset. The operator connected the call manually using cords and plugs at the switchboard. At the end of the call both users turned their magnetos again to signal to the operator that they had finished. This was called 'ringing off'.

Details

Category:
Telecommunications
Object Number:
1953-103
Materials:
metal (unknown), copper (alloy), plastic (unidentified) and wood (unidentified)
Measurements:
overall: 610 mm x 255 mm x 210 mm, 7.54 kg
type:
telephone
credit:
Donated by the Institution of Electrical Engineers