The Telephone Historical Centre offers visitors a fascinating look into Edmonton’s telecommunications history with the help of Xeldon the talking robot and captivating historical footage. Unfortunately, due to relevancy and financial issues it had to close in 2019 but its collection of antique telephones and technology remains open for visitors to discover.
Sheldon Hochheiser, director of archives at the museum, shared his in-depth knowledge about its collections with me.
ED TEL Archives
Established by retired employees of ED TEL, this museum provides guided and self-guided tours for visitors. Visitors can learn about communication design and technology before Apple entered the scene; view Edmonton’s first import phone; classic rotary phones and an operating switchboard are among other exhibits; while linemen’s tools and antique line insulators complete the collection. ED TEL Museum is accredited with Museums Alberta and also features Alexander Graham Bell’s wooden-framed experimental device as part of his original inventions.
The ED TEL Archives receives over 1.2 million searches each month, providing access to a collection of electronic resources that would normally require libraries individual subscriptions alone. It’s particularly valuable for rural and smaller libraries who cannot afford large subscriptions; and committed to improving its cataloguing in accordance with professional archival standards.
ED TEL is a state-funded program run by the Tennessee Electronic Library that saves libraries money by giving equal access to electronic databases from four vendors – with over 70 databases accessible anywhere with Internet connectivity.
AT&T Archives
Description of Corporate Archives for Former American Telephone and Telegraph Company and Its Successors (AT&T, AT&TX and predecessor companies), which contain Western Electric files; Hawthorne files; research and development collections from Bell Labs as well as thousands of photos and artifacts from these archives. Furthermore, access may be granted primarily for company business but external requests will be reviewed on an individual basis. Conditions for Access are as follows: Primarily available only within company business settings but requests from external parties will be addressed on an individual basis. Access for external requests will be assessed case by case basis. Conditions for Access: Primarily for company business use but external requests will be addressed case by case basis. Conditions for External Requests will be taken seriously upon application. Conditions for Access: Priority given for company business use but external requests will be evaluated on an individual basis depending on circumstances. Conditions for Access: Primarily restricted according to company business needs but external requests will be taken seriously upon receiving approval. Conditions for Access: Primarily restricted as appropriate but external requests will be taken seriously upon consideration on a case by case basis and approved depending on circumstances. Conditions for Access: Primarily intended use, although requests will be evaluated on an individual basis as appropriate. Conditions: Primarily limited requests will be taken into consideration depending upon availability. Conditions for Access: Primarily restricted with regards to company business purposes although external requests will be evaluated separately according.
Sheldon Hochheiser, the archivist responsible for overseeing this collection, notes one of its primary challenges is that many collections arrived at the archive with disparate cataloging systems – making it “extremely quirky” to integrate them all under one system.
Thomas Watson’s notebook from March 10, 1876 recording Alexander Graham Bell’s first successful transmission of intelligible speech is one of the collection’s most famed artifacts, while another famous item in its arsenal is “Claude E. Shannon’s Mighty Mouse”, a crude protocomputer made out of electrical relays created to demonstrate his ideas regarding switching relays.
Bell Canada Archive
Bell was rapidly expanding its Canadian phone services with its government-granted monopoly and installed one million telephones within eight years after World War II had concluded.
Bell employees initially established the Collection as an effort to save examples of obsolete equipment that would otherwise have been thrown away, with telephone switches, insulators and other artifacts becoming the hallmarks of its entirety. Over time it grew even larger.
Photo Collection Highlights include photos documenting the establishment of the first transcontinental line in 1915, round-the-world call in 1935 and Newfoundland (Defence) Project during World War II in 1940s as well as postcards and tape recordings featuring Thomas Watson talking with Alexander Graham Bell as well as President Nixon speaking with astronauts on the moon.
Other noteworthy items include a book of sketches detailing the construction of Almonte-Pembroke lines, founder’s tobacco pouch and tools used by early linemen; duplicates of items placed in Beaver Hall building cornerstone; as well as a very rare Western Electric Catalogue which may have been published around 1907.
The Virtual Museum of Telecommunications
The Virtual Museum of Telecommunications features an artifact collection from telephone companies around the world. These exhibits celebrate those responsible for building and managing communication infrastructure – from early smoke signals to text messaging – while also showing their significance in shaping modern society. Furthermore, there is an impressive range of objects from Bell’s Bell Collection on display here, including several rotary dial phones.
Museums participate in the Connected Earth cooperation, an effort designed to give access to historical telecommunications objects held by museums in England and Scotland. Furthermore, Museums may share virtual collections or content held within their walls with one another.
Virtual museums can be defined in many different ways and their definition can vary according to disciplines involved, such as computer science, library and information science or museology – each field may develop their own definition for what constitutes a virtual museum.
