SNET maintains both historical and artifactual material that chronicles its past, such as exchange histories; personal recollections associated with SNET employees and events; buildings; and line maps.
The collection also comprises equipment, catalogues and photographs documenting telephone manufacturing from its first factory in Brantford in 1878 to today’s state-of-the-art technologies.
Collections
The Collection features artifacts that document the development and history of telephone technology and equipment, spanning its early days up to modern-day uses. Items include equipment used by early telephone operators, tools employed by linemen, pieces from old Edmonton tests wires as souvenirs and much more.
This collection also contains scrapbooks and historical photographs; oversize materials and fragile photos require special care, being stored separately in boxed sets.
The Collection houses historic documents and records from Bell Canada and its predecessors that trace the development of telecommunications in Alberta over time. Files cover exchange histories, facts and figures for towns and cities, buildings and storms as well as key figures within company history as well as comprehensive files on foreign telephone history as well as Yellow Pages advertising samples; making this collection unique in Canada and an invaluable resource for researchers, students and general enthusiasts.
Exhibits
The Telephone Artifact Collection holds numerous artifacts related to its history. These holdings serve as evidence of Canada’s development as a nation through telecom. With comprehensive files on Bell Telephone Company of Canada, Northern Telecom, independent and connecting Canadian telephone companies as well as international telecommunications such as Telecommunications in Foreign Countries it provides insight into Canadian telecom and beyond. Photographs, catalogues and equipment that trace manufacturing from Brantford Ontario (1878) all the way through Bell-Northern Research & Development Laboratories today; along with documents that describe this industry, its participants and accomplishments – this collection provides insight into Canada’s growth as a nation within Telecommunications history.
The Telephone Historical Centre’s archived holdings and collection holdings offer invaluable resources for researchers and students studying telecommunications. Many of these resources are accessible to the general public via exhibitions and programs.
Education
The Telephone Historical Centre offers a variety of educational programs. Ranging from workshops to school tours, students can discover telecommunications history and technology by visiting either our physical museum or exploring our virtual collections.
Our collection consists of vintage phone directories dating back to 1895; technical manuals dating from the 1800s; and other books of interest about communications technology. Many are originals, such as The Telephone: An Account of Electricity, Magnetism and Sound with Instructions for Making a Speaking Telephone published just one year after its invention!
Explore Alberta’s tale of telephone use during its rapid development from government and business services, home communications, and creating the modern province it is today. Uncover equipment, competitions and people from this exciting period that helped foster its birth.
Events
Alexander Graham Bell successfully brought the invention of the telephone to market. While Italian inventor Antonio Meucci first patented his idea for one in 1849 and French innovator Charles Bourseul created a prototype phone in 1854, Alexander Graham Bell took it one step further by filing his patent in 1876 in the United States.
Discover the history of wired telephone networks, other inventions that inspired it and the people involved with building and improving it at this interactive museum. Visitors can explore old-fashioned operator switchboards, wall-mounted magneto phones and electromechanical marvels which paved the way to today’s electronic devices.
Discover Alberta’s Telecommunications Story–its achievements, politics, competitions, equipment and personalities–in the wake of the end of fur trade. This section introduces this freewheeling period through virtual exhibits, digital collections and educational interactives. In addition, the museum houses an expansive communications collection from around the globe including replica Bell Telephone Company buildings; an operating telegraph pole complete with climbing equipment; hundreds of telephone-related items.
