Author: Morris Butler
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Telephone Historical Centre archieves

The Telephone Historical Centre has shut its doors after 31 years in Edmonton, with the museum’s foundation voting to dissolve due to relevancy and financial issues.

Sheldon Hochheiser, the museum’s archivist, discusses some of its unique aspects. He describes their strengths and quirks.

Collections

The collections held by the Telephone Historical Centre are exceptionally varied. Their archives contain vintage phone directories, technical manuals and books related to telecommunication technology and history; as well as operator switchboards from 1920s and 1960s; mobile telephones dating from 1980s car phones through current cell phones.

The archive’s earliest volumes date from 1877, one year after Alexander Graham Bell first patenting his revolutionary telephone device. One such volume titled The Speaking Telephone provides detailed diagrams and explanations on its operation.

Rogers Kaufman began collecting artifacts, records and other memorabilia left by previous owners at Gridley Telephone Company when he retired and used these to form what is now the Telephone Museum of Gridley. Open houses and customer appreciation events allowed visitors to view this ever-evolving museum that continues to thrive with help from Rogers Kaufman’s family and volunteers; eventually a building was constructed at Main and Main Street to house this growing collection.

Exhibits

Today we take our phones for granted; but back in 1885 they were cutting edge technology. The museum showcased antique telephone artifacts as well as hands-on exhibits featuring telecom technology. Furthermore, tours could be booked for groups or individuals.

The Archives house an impressive collection of historic telephone directories covering 14 states as well as photographs and slides. Books on telecommunications history and technology also line their shelves.

Series VII, Material Produced by SNET (1878-1998) is organized alphabetically and contains newspaper clippings bound into scrapbooks as well as brochures, pamphlets, and booklets produced by SNET. Furthermore, there are large binders filled with samples of Yellow Pages advertisements from 1972 to 1980.

Education Programs

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission encourages projects that foster collaborations between archivists, educators, historians (including documentary editors), community-based archives staff and volunteer “citizen archivists.” Specifically they encourage projects which enable members of the public to contribute metadata tags, transcribe annotate or enhance digitized historical records.

Edmonton’s Telephone Historical Centre provided students and others interested in Alberta telecommunications history with access to educational material on this topic. However, due to relevance issues, financial constraints, and structural challenges it decided to close after 31 years of operation.

Explore telecommunications through virtual exhibits and digital collections. Discover Alberta’s Telephone Era with all its successes, politics, competitions, equipment and companies.

Events

The Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum is an unforgettable experience that speaks to visitors of all ages. Visitors are able to relive memories from party lines or three-way calling, or discover cordless phones as newfound freedoms – as well as exploring technology and history through hands-on experiences that demonstrate its relevance for future generations.

Discover the story of wired telephone networks, their predecessor inventions and those involved in creating them as you uncover its history. From old-fashioned operator switchboards to wall-mounted magneto phones and electromechanical marvels that paved the way for today’s electronic devices – this collection provides insight into communications history. In Alberta’s case specifically, this section also highlights achievements, politics, competitions equipment and personalities from an early period after fur trade ended; providing visitors with a virtual telephone heritage experience through virtual exhibits, digital collections and educational interactives.

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Telephone Historical Centre Visiting hours

Discover the history of communications technology with this engaging museum. Exhibits include working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches, antique telephones and switchboards as well as outside plant displays such as poles, wires, cables, splicing equipment and tools with an expansive cataloged reference library.

The Telephone Historical Centre was created by retired ED TEL employees. After facing relevance and financial issues as well as succession planning concerns, its members decided in April 2019 to dissolve it.

School Field Trips

The Telephone Historical Centre was founded in 1987 as a non-profit charitable organization in Edmonton by retired ED TEL employees, with its museum situated nearby Old Strathcona near 108 Ave and Prince of Wales Armouries.

School field trips and groups are welcome at this museum, which chronicles over 100 years of communications technology in Roseville and nationwide. Exhibits include working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches; outside plant displays of poles, wires, cables, splicing equipment and tools as well as antique telephones and memorabilia from Roseville plants; antique telephones as well as memorabilia are featured as exhibits.

Students can explore this collection of 1920s artifacts via guided or self-guided museum tours, with museum educators available to answer any questions and provide classroom-use materials as necessary. Furthermore, virtual field trip experiences are also offered through this virtual tour platform.

Group Sightseeing Tours

Telephone Historical Centre staff would be pleased to conduct group tours through their 4,500-square foot museum, with exhibits such as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique telephones, switchboards, telecommunications equipment; outside plant displays with poles, cables, splicing equipment and tools; as well as an extensive cataloged telecommunications reference library.

The Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre was a museum founded by retired ED TEL employees that closed due to issues regarding relevancy, finances and succession planning in April 2019. Rent-A-Tour guides are former ED TEL employees that possess knowledge, enthusiasm and an entertaining approach that makes an informative tour an engaging experience for all ages.

Housed in a restored 1896 building in Jefferson Barracks Park, this history museum provides interactive “how-things-work” exhibits designed to foster interest in engineering and history. Their collection includes telephones from late 1800s through 2000s as well as hundreds of pieces of related equipment and memorabilia spanning their existence; additionally they boast full size Clinton C.Os and partial Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchanges from Unity Maine for added curiosity!

Docent-Led Tours

Guided tours at our Museum will enable you to gain fascinating knowledge of both our collection and current exhibitions from an experienced tour guide. Tours typically last one hour long and are free for members/included with admission for non-members.

Discover Edmonton’s rich telecommunications history at this interactive museum, complete with working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches, antique telephones, switchboards, outside plant displays with poles, cables, splicing equipment and tools as well as many telephone related items.

At Detroit 67: Perspectives exhibition, guests can engage in an educational 90-minute experience that explores key economic and social forces that contributed to its chaotic summer of 1967 and its wider ramifications for Detroit. Tours take place Thursdays and Fridays beginning at 10:30 a.m. with additional tours offered every 30 minutes thereafter until 3:30 p.m. Docent Choice tours allow your guide to highlight exhibits at their discretion depending on availability – tours may change frequently based on this option.

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Telephone Historical Centre

Over just 100 years, telephone technology has rapidly progressed into an essential tool. At the Telephone Historical Centre, this development can be experienced first-hand with its collection of historic phones and back-end switchboards.

Archive holdings at the museum include special original volumes such as Alexander Graham Bell’s own Speaking Telephone published a year after its invention.

What to Expect

As technology gradually transitions from physical to virtual spaces, the Telephone Historical Centre ensures the work and innovation behind creating real networks aren’t forgotten. Since opening as Bell Systems disbanded its monopoly in 1984, the museum has amassed an extensive collection of artifacts such as crank phones, hand-operated switchboards and antique talking equipment – which help tell its own history.

Tour guides at the museum don’t hesitate to get their hands dirty, showing kids how to use rotary phones with impunity and teaching adults about ancient switching systems that once covered the landscape. “Interactivity is very important,” according to David Thompson, who leads tours from Ellsworth, Bar Harbor and other Hancock County towns.

Early telephone users were skeptical and mistrustful. It appeared miraculous that sounds could travel from metal box to metal box through thin wires; many believed the line could act as a conduit for evil spirits or even thunder and lightning storms.

Admission

The Telephone Historical Centre is one of the largest hands-on museums in North America. Opened to the public for tours beginning December 3, 1987 at Old Strathcona and moving to its current home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in 2004, this museum operates under volunteer management and offers both educational and family tours for both groups and schools.

Visitors to Fort Kent Telephone Company’s magneto switchboard from 1920 can witness its operation and hear its jingle ring tone as well as experience its tactile features such as crank phones, pay stations and other equipment.

The museum holds thousands of artifacts related to telecom history. This impressive collection was assembled through donations from employees and retirees of ED TEL and the Independent Telecommunication Pioneer Association who donated money, time and knowledge of their history of telecom. Devoted volunteers cleaned and refurbished equipment before helping organize exhibits within the museum village – replicating rural telephone exchanges and offices within its walls.

Exhibits

The museum boasts an impressive collection of antique telephones and telecommunications equipment dating back to the 1900s, as well as exhibits showcasing communication technology from manual switching systems to automatic ones.

Roseville Telephone Museum provides an enjoyable educational family outing, school field trip or group sightseeing tour experience. Their volunteer docents and volunteers are made up of current and retired telecommunications employees passionate about sharing their knowledge of history with visitors.

One of the many exhibits on display includes an original Coffin style wall phone and wooden three box phones that still fully function, these being precursors to modern rotary dial telephone sets by using combined transmitter/receiver units rather than separate transmitter and receiver units.

The museum also houses an innovative Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange based on the stepping switch principle; this model is unique outside a telephone company’s headquarters. Visitors can even try their hand at operating an authentic telephone switchboard!

Events

Employees and retirees of Southwestern Bell, a non-profit 501(c)(3) employee service organization, volunteered their time repairing and renovating Jefferson Barracks Telephone Museum in Jefferson City. Together they dedicated over 66,500 hours towards making it accessible history museum that it is today.

Most of us take for granted how much we rely on the telephone these days, but 100 years ago it was state of the art technology. At the Telephone Historical Centre we share its story as it developed over time.

The museum first opened on December 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona and later relocated to its current home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in central Edmonton in 2004. However, its foundation decided to close in April 2019 for reasons related to relevance, financial issues and structural problems. To examine phone communications as an expression of civic identity in Edmonton as part of their studies for their COMM 505: Using Communications Technologies to Facilitate Civic Identity class at University of Alberta: read here

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Telephone Historical Centre Outreach Programs

At Telecom Museum we celebrate the creativity, skill and industry that characterize telecom. With an expansive archive and educational programming we honor this storied industry.

The Telephone Historical Centre (THG) is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization funded through membership dues, research fees and grants. THG operates two museums as well as maintaining an archive of telecom equipment.

Student Caller Program

Telephone Historical Centre (THG), one of the world’s premier collectors groups dedicated to telecom history preservation, boasts one of the largest membership bases of any collectors group in existence today. Members collect items dating from telecom’s early days until now as well as operating two museums and an archive with physical items located both locally in Denver as well as digital resources – funded through membership dues, research fees and donations, THG operates non-profitably with funds coming from membership dues, research fees and donations; developing communication, networking and sales skills while working to preserve our telecom heritage heritage!

Community Outreach

The Telephone Historical Centre houses one of North America’s premier collections of vintage telephones dating back to their invention. Items found within its hallowed walls date all the way back to early phone history!

Due to Covid-19 and cancellation of in-person group health engagement events, HBEC staff, CAB members and volunteers developed this telephone outreach project as a means of staying engaged with research registry participants while meeting individual needs in a way that was safe and feasible. This one call served multiple functions – collecting information about participants’ experiences with regards to strength/weaknesses/challenges of pandemic; suggesting resources (i.e. mental health services or food services); sending masks if indicated – plus sending masks when requested by participants themselves!

THG is a nonprofit organization funded by membership dues, donations and grants, operating two museums and an archive while offering educational programs on telecommunication history. We enjoy strong support from local history partners all across Texas who assist us in operating these operations.

Special Events

The Telecommunications History Group was formed by a small group of former and current telecom employees who were shocked to discover that many items of telecom history were being discarded or destroyed as buildings closed or people no longer found them useful. Today, THG operates two museums as well as one of the nation’s largest archives dedicated to telecom history.

Visit Roseville Telephone Museum or Gridley Telephone Museum, both featuring an assortment of antique telephones and memorabilia that would make for a fantastic family outing, school field trip or sightseeing attraction.

THG’s collection traces the development of communication technologies from Alexander Graham Bell’s attic workshop in 1876 all the way up to mobile phone technology used today, many of these pieces still in working condition today.

Volunteer Opportunities

Every year, hundreds of Alexandria residents volunteer their time, expertise and energy to support City of Alexandria museums and programs. From studying artifacts to conducting museum tours or using computer skills for research findings – there are dozens of volunteer opportunities available at Alexandria museums and programs.

Volunteers at JANM play an essential role in Museum operations: greeting visitors, helping with special exhibitions and events, conducting group tours, school museum programs, library operations and collections management. Furthermore, some volunteers opt to explore museums independently through education journal work or participate in Nima Voices video interviews; translate materials for the Discover Nikkei web project or transcribe oral history interviews as an independent activity.

Do you enjoy working with people? Volunteers at the Science Center could find a home on board the USS Requin to engage guests and answer their questions about life onboard our cold war submarine, while greeters are needed at Black History, Fort Ward and Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museums – plus any number of collections may require your assistance as well!

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Alexander Graham Bell received the patent for his revolutionary telephone invention in 1876 and this collection explores both its history and those who helped shape it.

This series is alphabetized and provides files on exchange histories and facts, buildings, storms and disasters as well as key people. Also included are large binders containing sample advertisements.

Manual System Telephones

These telephones are part of a collection that pays homage to generations of workers who erected poles, buried cables and developed the technology behind telephony. Visitors will experience what it was like dialing rotary phones while learning their impactful role in revolutionizing communication for us all.

The museum boasts an extensive collection of Strowger switches, All Relay and panel switch exchanges as well as rotary system telephones with interactive softkeys for intuitive feature access. In addition, there are display telephones featuring interactive softkeys with feature displays for visitors.

This collection offers manuals, guides, and other documentation related to PBX and VoIP business telephone systems. These documents help with installations, system settings and configuration changes; as well as being an invaluable resource for telephone technicians and help desk personnel. PBXMechanic hosts this library in PDF format so users can easily download them at anytime.

Automatic System Telephones

Customers seeking answers that cannot be easily provided via automated voice menu may prefer speaking directly with a live representative; offering this option can increase customer satisfaction, strengthen brand image and lower costs.

Before the advent of dial phones, hundreds of operators were employed at central telephone exchanges to connect calls for residential and business subscribers. Each connection point on this switchboard represented one phone in its area being served – this photo shows one such operator connecting on behalf of a funeral director.

At banks, insurance companies, cellphone providers and more, automated phone systems have become an everyday experience. Their friendly virtual assistant prompting us to enter account or social security numbers can be frustrating; however these automated telephone systems are designed to be helpful and efficient for both callers and company representatives – often known as IVR (interactive voice response). One such example from 1883-1885 produced by Viaduct Electric Company wall phones known as three jug phones or battery phones used three glass bottled batteries stored in its lower compartment – hence their nickname!

Telephone Technology

The story of telephone invention is remarkable and includes many technological advancements since Alexander Graham Bell first patented its basic design. These advances, the businesses they spawned and the people responsible for maintaining such an extensive network are featured here as part of this section of our Collections.

Early telephone systems relied on copper wires to communicate between offices or homes and between customers, with line switching conducted manually by switchboard operators at local exchanges. Later automatic systems connected customers directly to a nationwide Public Switched Telephone Network through which mobile phones allowed for short range communication on the move; newer transistor technology has replaced vacuum tubes which consumed too much power allowing phones to run off of smaller and longer lasting batteries.

Telephone Artifacts

The museum’s collection of telephone directories represents United States locations and dates across much of the 20th century, providing us with an invaluable record to trace the development of telephone technology as people utilized it.

Matos describes the gourd telephone as an executive level communication device; assistants or courtiers might use it from an anteroom to communicate with their superiors thereby maintaining stratification between lower and upper classes, and guaranteeing security.

This participant marvels at the rapid developments of communication technologies before and up until her birth, noting its importance in her memory. Interviews illustrate this materially oriented methodology’s promise as an inquiry into past technological practices; yet at the same time they highlight that sustained and insightful reflections about familiar artifacts may prove difficult; body memory complicates attempts to link historical artifacts with past practices.

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