The telephone has played an instrumental role in shaping modern communication technology, and this paper explores its history in Edmonton, Alberta.

Many contributions in this special issue go beyond using national boundaries as a lens through which to view telephone history. Heike Weber examines global circulation of CB radio cultures; while Judith Dyck, Crystal Carwin Lee and Melissa Myskiw examine how phones serve as expressions of civic identity.

Hands on Exhibits

This hands-on museum provides a window into Edmonton’s telecom history. As one of the largest telephone museums in North America, this facility showcases many exhibits ranging from early commercial phones to a replica of Alexander Graham Bell’s invention.

The museum features wall phones leased from phone companies by subscribers rather than owned, along with manual switchboards used to operate them. Visitors can try out three box telephone sets and gain insight into how line switching operated these phones before modern electronic systems were adopted.

Western Electric Model 302 desktop telephone was the first telephone ever created that combined network wiring and the ringer in one device, offering distinctive “ding-dong” tones when you call or can redial last number called. If desired, this phone can even make its interior warp nacelles sound just like Star Trek NCC-1701!

Multi-Media Presentation

Multimedia Presentation is an educational tool available to groups of 10 or more people that is both powerful and innovative. This computerized multimedia program utilizes audio, video, animation, still imagery and text to convey a particular message.

History of the Telephone is marked by competition and controversy. Many individuals claimed credit for inventing it – Antonio Meucci, Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray were all named as contenders – leading to lawsuits being filed between these men in order to settle this matter.

Early telephones were locally powered by a dynamic transmitter requiring regular maintenance. Later, phones were powered from the central office over the same wires carrying voice signals. Acoustic telephones briefly made an appearance before eventually becoming obsolete due to limited range and inability to transmit clear sound signals. Touch-Tone signaling and the rotary dial phone soon replaced them, until now when smartphones have revolutionized communication worldwide.

Archive Collection

Students, researchers and anyone interested in history and telecommunications will find an impressive archive at the museum containing vintage telephone directories dating back to 1895; over-sized bound periodicals; and SNET telephone books.

The collection also houses many archival holdings related to Alexander Graham Bell and his family. The Bell Papers include correspondence, scientific notebooks and blueprints as well as materials pertaining to Bell’s varied interests such as his work with deaf students and educational experiments.

Archival collections that pertain to SNET history also exist, with Series VII: Subject Files providing alphabetically organized files on town histories, buildings, storms and disasters as well as SNET employees – among many other subjects.

Educational Programs

Telephone Historical Centre is Canada’s only museum dedicated to telephone history, offering visitors an interactive experience demonstrating telephone technology from its inception until today. From Carl H. Galloway improving his father’s grocery store business by allowing customers to call in orders via the telephone line to the latest flip phones available today – this museum traces its development through collections and archives. Admission is by donation; children’s and school programs are also offered.

The Telephone Historical Centre was created by retired employees from Edmonton’s EDTEL on December 3rd 1987 in Old Strathcona before moving to its current home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Center on April 17th 2004. This museum specializes in collecting, researching, organising, documenting, exhibiting and storing historical materials related to telephone history in Edmonton as well as general telecommunications technology. Furthermore, educational programs including an award-winning multi-media Historic Telecommunications Theatre Show as well as hand-on exhibits that teach communications principles are offered here.

The Telephone Historical Centre Archives are unique collections that explore Alberta’s long and rich telecommunications history, such as vintage telephone directories and technical manuals relating to telecom technology and history.

This dynamic collection offers artifacts and oral histories related to Albertans who made telephone service possible through virtual exhibits, digital collections and interactive educational experiences.

The History of the Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell was an English physicist who invented the telephone in 1876. Although his invention surpassed Elisha Gray by hours, there were other scientists working on telephone technology at that time.

Early telephones were initially designed as simple intercom systems to link homes and businesses together, providing callers the chance to speak at any time or from any place using an exchange service.

Prior to the 1940s, each phone required its own individual battery that needed replacing periodically. But in the late 1920s, Hammond V. Hayes created a common battery system allowing one central battery to power all phones on an exchange.

Modern phones feature an alerting feature that notifies users when new calls arrive, usually via visual indicators or ringers. Some companies provide caller ID services so recipients of calls can see who is calling without having to answer immediately.

The History of Bell Canada

Bell Canada, one of the nation’s premier telephone companies, provides local and long-distance telecommunications services as well as wireless offerings.

The collection’s holdings trace the growth and development of Canadian telephone industry since its founding, documenting pioneers’ courage and vision. These records include exchanges and offices records, lists of subscribers, directories and publications as well as documents regarding Bell operations in Ontario, Quebec, Northwest Territories and British Columbia.

The Collection features various telephony-related materials, such as Bell cylinders and patents/specifications; photographs/films from its early days; as well as records regarding company operations (maps/diagrams of networks etc).

The History of the Smithsonian

The Smithsonian is one of the world’s premier museums and research institutions, boasting 19 museums, the National Zoo, and nine research centers for visitors to explore and discover its many wonders.

James Smithson had grand visions when he founded the Smithsonian in 1846: an all-encompassing museum, education, and research facility in Washington D.C. This led him to leave his estate to establish it there.

He was also an esteemed physicist, known for his research in electromagnetism. Alexander Graham Bell visited him in April 1875 to get advice about creating his telephone, which eventually received its patent application on March 1, 1876.

In 1973, the Founders’ Crypt was restored and in this space Smithson’s remains were brought from Chicago and interred at the Smithsonian Institution anew. To this day he remains an integral figure in its history and remains revered and esteemed.

The History of Edmonton

Edmonton is a modern city that was established through settlement. Situated along the North Saskatchewan River in Western Canada’s Parkland Belt region, its rich and long history dates back decades.

Beginning around 3,000 BC when the Ice Age receded and an ice-free corridor appeared, Edmonton first flourished as an independent settlement. This period marked its early development.

As soon as the Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Edmonton in 1795, it quickly become an important trading post. This propelled rapid settlement growth outside of the fort itself – eventually turning it into an official town by 1892.

During this time period, people from various corners of the globe settled in Edmonton due to its fertile soil and central railway location.

Edmonton enjoyed an unprecedented period of rapid population growth until World War I, when high Canadian military enlistment numbers caused its population to temporarily decrease due to service obligations; but this decline quickly rebounded with subsequent military recruitment campaigns and military recruitment drives.

The invention of the telephone revolutionized communication. At The Telephone Historical Centre, explore how our communications have progressed through time.

Visit this hands-on museum that features real, working telephones as well as the switchboards and switching systems that powered the wired telephone network.

Monday – Friday

In December 1987, the Telephone Historical Centre opened in an old telephone exchange building in Old Strathcona. By 2004 however, it had moved to Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre in Central Edmonton where it remained until April 2019.

The museum boasts an extensive collection of antique and vintage phones, switchboards and outside plant equipment from past years, along with an exhibit tracing the evolution of mobile phones from 1980s car phones to current cellular phones. Visitors will witness displays such as rotary dial phones, decorator phones, hand-crank magneto phones and manual switchboards – in addition to an extensive library of telecommunications reference books for researchers. The Museum is run entirely by volunteers and open to the public by appointment only. For further inquiries or booking, contact the Telephone Historical Centre by dialling 780-432-0099; Monday – Friday 10 am – 3 pm and closed on Saturday & Sunday; hours may differ during holidays & special events, and Wednesday is closed as part of Museum business hours.

Saturday

The Telephone Historical Centre is an interactive and hands-on museum designed to make learning fun for kids of all ages. Situated in Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Centre, this centre houses an impressive collection of antique telephones as well as other telecommunications memorabilia from yesteryear. Hours for admission vary; Monday – Friday 10 am – 3 pm (closed Saturday). Admission fee per person is $2; groups of 20 or more can pay additional USD2 admission.

The Telephone Historical Centre first opened to the public on December 3, 1987 in Old Strathcona and moved to its current home at Prince of Wales Armouries Heritage Center on September 17, 2004. This museum features an impressive multi-media theatre show that highlights the History of Telephony along with many interactive exhibits that demonstrate communications science, as well as first class manual telephone switchboard, Step-by-Step private automatic branch exchange, mobile telephones exhibit, as well as many other fun exhibits highlighting communication technology and science behind it. Countless tourists visit it each year! One of Edmonton’s premier tourist attractions!

Holidays

The Telephone Historical Centre is an interactive museum that takes visitors on an immersive journey through the history and impact of telephone communication worldwide. Displays include working telephones, hand-crank magneto phones mounted to walls, dial phones, and manual switchboards – as well as hand-cranked phone operators machines! History provides us with fascinating pieces of evidence about electricity, sound and magnetism – essential elements in modern-day communication systems. Take a tour through telecommunications’ past to meet those who made it all possible! Discover the story of Winter Park Telephone Company, founded by a Maitland resident in 1910. Take advantage of online resources and upcoming events at the Museum to make the most of your visit – make this holiday season extra memorable by making it special with family or friends at Telephone Historical Centre!

The Telephone Historical Centre offers outreach programs that bring the history of telephones alive. Our team of educators can work with your classroom, school, community education center or business to deliver a lesson that satisfies Social Studies standards and the Kentucky Academic Standards for Arts and Humanities.

Classroom Outreach

Classroom Outreach offers teachers and their students engaging, hands-on educational experiences that align with state social studies standards. Museum education staff works directly with classroom teachers to conduct an engaging lesson using historical artifacts as teaching aids.

Students become historians as they analyze historical images and artifacts and participate in activities such as quill writing or wool spinning to develop visual literacy, historical literacy and critical thinking skills. These interactive lessons are free for schools and community education centers.

School outreach programs have the power to engage students with community issues while simultaneously sparking skill development. By connecting economic, political, and societal forces to their everyday lives and showing them how they can impact them directly, school outreach programs have an incredible capacity for positive impactful action from both students and communities over time. By including community partners into classroom learning environments they provide diverse pathways that meet diverse learning styles.

Community Outreach

Community outreach refers to an umbrella term covering many activities. From handing out informational pamphlets on new health and safety regulations, to developing interactive educational games and exhibits that educate residents, visitors, and local businesses; there are countless forms of community outreach programs offered at The Telephone Historical Centre that aim to assist residents in these areas as well as historical preservation, law enforcement, medical care services and much more.

THC promotes our services at local events and through its online presence. Our website and social media platforms are regularly updated with Texas history, cultural heritage, conservation and preservation news and events. In addition, staff at THC attend many public and private events each year to promote our programs – sharing the THC experience with those interested in our historic collections, local treasures and state’s rich history.

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections offer visitors an exciting and engaging array of antique telephones, telecommunications technology, research documents and archives that they can interact with through hands-on exhibits.

The Bell Canada Telephone History Collection contains over three and a half million documents and 25,000 pieces of equipment dating from late 1800s to present day, documenting the development of telephone technology as it progressed, while honoring early pioneers who made history possible.

Collections

As well as its collection of antique telephones, the museum staff are constantly on the lookout for what will become the next great advance in telecommunications history. To share their knowledge with enthusiasts everywhere, they have compiled an exhaustive list of books and articles every telecom enthusiast should read in order to stay abreast of developments within telecommunications history.

Their award-winning exhibits boast a diverse collection of antique telephones and technology to keep visitors busy for hours on end. Interactive telecommunications themed displays and hands-on programs make finding something of interest easy; you may even come across your favourite item during one of the hands-on programs devoted to this field of technology! Visit Edmonton Museum of Telecommunications (EMOT) if you’re curious about Edmonton’s early days in telecommunications; this trip down memory lane takes us back to a time when Edmonton hosted some of world leading technologies; try on an actual Victorian dress or converse with an actual phone operator!

Exhibits

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections contain an incredible variety of telecommunications artefacts. This includes telephone sets, telegraphs, insulators and even a replica of Alexander Graham Bell’s first telephone!

The museum features various exhibits and hands-on activities for visitors to enjoy, such as its Telecommunications History Gallery, Antique Telephone Exhibit, Mobile-Telephone Exhibit that charts wireless communications from 1980s cars through modern mobile phones, among others.

The museum houses an extensive collection of tools of the trade, copper cabling and manholes from early days of telecommunications technology and its development from manual switching to automatic switching. Admission is by donation.

Archives

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections contain a wide array of archives including documents, photographs, artefacts and other items related to the history of telephone technology. These items provide details about early operations of companies including information on personnel; local telephone directories; newspapers; miscellaneous items.

Manual System Telephones: Edmonton first established their manual telephone system in 1885; since then it has continued to adapt in order to keep pace with increasing population growth in Edmonton’s streets. Line switching involved sending signal patterns through switchboard operators at telephone exchanges directly to rotary dial telephones connected by wire.

The Archives Center recently received a grant from the Smithsonian Institution’s Collections Care and Preservation Fund to digitize at-risk film collections for public access. Your donation will help preserve these fragile yet unique resources for future researchers.

Research

Bell Canada’s Telephone Historical Collection is an extensive research archive, comprising nearly three and a half million paper documents and 25K pieces of equipment dating from 1880-2007. While not strictly considered part of Bell’s company archive, the collections provide researchers with access to an abundance of knowledge regarding Bell’s role in Canadian telecommunications history – an invaluable resource.

The Centre’s most captivating exhibit is its impressive collection of antique telephones and communications technology, complete with hands-on exhibits that give visitors an experience first-hand of history such as Alexander Graham Bell’s Gallows Frame Telephone or Thomas Watson’s Thumper Phone; both can be found alongside replicas. In addition, other technological artifacts including Step-by-Step Private Automatic Branch Exchange, mobile phone exhibit, stepping switches etc all trace its evolution since 1870 right up until today’s wireless communication age are also housed here.