Established by retired employees of Edmonton Telephone Company (ED TEL), this one-of-a-kind museum features an unparalleled collection of antique telecommunications equipment dating back more than 100 years, from Alexander Graham Bell’s first phone to modern videophones.
At Edmonton Museum’s collection includes rotary dial wall phones; novelty Princess and candlestick telephones from Princess’ collection; manual system phones imported in 1885 from Philadelphia, and working Central Office step switches (operator panel and crossbar electromechanical switching), as well as outside plant displays of poles, cables and splicing tools, alongside an extensive library of telecom research documents.
Antique Telephones
Visits to the Museum are an interactive and engaging way for people of all ages to learn about communication history. It houses an impressive collection of antique telephone related artifacts dating from Alexander Graham Bell’s wall-mounted operator phones to contemporary cell phone pocket models.
Edmonton’s Telephone Historical Centre offers Canada’s only facility dedicated to telecom history. Here you will find vintage telephone directories and technical manuals which provide valuable resources for students of telecommunications technology and history alike.
Collectors often collect old fashioned phones due to nostalgia for certain design eras or simply adding unique decorative items to their home. Whatever their reason may be, there are numerous methods available for purchasing and refurbishing classic telephones that will satisfy every taste imaginable.
Antique Central Office Switchboards
This museum boasts an impressive collection of antique telephones and telecommunications technology as well as research documents and archives. Exhibits include working panel and crossbar electromechanical central office switch equipment; two Kellogg universal switchboards capable of manually connecting calls; outdoor plant displays of poles, wires, insulators; as well as an extensive cataloged telecommunications research library.
The museum’s collection of antique central office switchboards provides visitors with an appreciation of telecommunications history from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted operator phones to stepping switches, private automatic branch exchanges, and modern mobile phones. Furthermore, it pays homage to generations of workers who erected poles, buried cables and created technologies which make communication possible.
Before direct dialed long distance telephone service became widespread, customers would call a local operator in order to request specific services such as coin collections or accepting collect calls. Once an operator was on board with this process, he or she would use the central office switchboard to contact and connect to an appropriate long-distance operator and connect the call.
Outside Plant Displays
Hello, Montreal! is an interactive exhibit retracing over 140 years of the telephone’s impactful role in our lives, featuring fascinating items from the Bell collection as well as large-scale models and an abundance of interactive stations where visitors of all ages can test themselves as early telephone operators. In addition, Hello Montreal! recognizes generations of men and women who contributed their skills towards building America’s telecommunication infrastructure – by erecting poles, burying cables, developing technological solutions or simply placing poles.
Pointe-a-Calliere draws family, school and sightseeing tours from throughout North America in search of knowledge about telecommunications history. Notable features include antique telephones from multiple eras – rotary dial wall phones and novelty Princess phones from 1885; working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches and operator switchboards imported to Edmonton 1885; outside plant displays featuring poles, cables, tools as well as unique phone reference materials dating from Alexander Graham Bell’s initial invention through to videophones today. These items present the entire history of 100 years of communications technology from Alexander Graham Bell’s original invention to videophones!
Archives
The Telephone Historical Centre archives contain an array of exciting and informative items, such as working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches; antique phones; outdoor plant displays (poles, wire, and splicing tools); as well as an extensive catalogued reference library.
The collection consists of many rare original volumes, such as The Speaking Telephone published in 1877 – only one year after Alexander Graham Bell’s revolutionary invention of the telephone – that provides detailed diagrams that demonstrate its operation. There are also technical manuals such as 1960 Telephone Traffic Engineering Handbook that was actually used by workers, complete with written notes on its pages.
Archivists at Edmonton City Library provide an oral history collection with former employees from Edmonton’s telephone industry, which provides insight into its past. Students, researchers and anyone interested in communications history will find these invaluable records extremely beneficial. In addition, there is also a large collection of vintage telephone directories and technical books which document this industry history available within these archives.
