Author: Morris Butler
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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.

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Telephone Historical Centre Visiting hours

Communication is integral to business. One of the greatest innovations in communication history has been the telephone.

Discover the history of telephone technology at Maitland Museum’s interactive Telephone Museum. Featuring working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switches as well as outside plant displays complete with poles, cables and splicing equipment as well as hundreds of items related to telephone technology – this museum brings this technology alive!

In-Person Visits

Telephone Historical Centres are museums that provide in-person visits to learn more about communications technology’s history and the stories behind its artifacts. Visitors can experience working Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central-office switches, antique telephones and switchboards, outside plant displays including poles, cables and splicing equipment and an impressive cataloged telecommunications reference library – not forgetting opportunities to volunteer as tour guides, gallery assistants or greeters! Timed entry tickets must be purchased prior to each visit online or over phone and include general admission for that day; see Ticket FAQs for further details!

The Edmonton Telephone Historical Centre was a museum dedicated to preserving telecommunications artifacts in Edmonton, Alberta. However, in April 2019, they decided to dissolve due to relevancy issues, financial challenges and succession planning considerations.

Video Visits

Telephone Historical Centres provide video visits with family and friends of inmates. To set up their visits through HomeWAV 24 hours in advance. Each visit lasts 20 minutes and costs $3.25; all visits are recorded and monitored; if inappropriate behavior is observed it will be terminated immediately. Visitors must always wear shoes, fully clothed including full footwear; no halter tops, tube tops, fish net shirts or see-through fabrics are allowed as clothing options.

Virtual visits play an integral role in providing care during a pandemic, enabling clinicians to meet routine patient services when in-person contact is not safe or advisable. Clinicians can ensure patient needs are met by orienting patients to this new visit modality and making interpreters available if required; also they should identify ways of overcoming barriers that prevent patients from accessing these modalities; expanding broadband access for all and creating policies to promote patients using these forms of contact.

Walk-In Visits

Visitors who prefer visiting centres directly and do not find video visits suitable may consult with staff in a number of ways. At the time of our visit, centre managers reported receiving many walk-in visitors who use walk-in services.

Nurses were responsible for most consultations at each center; some also employed health advisers for more specialized issues. Nurse employment ranged from six-14 whole-time equivalent positions per centre with vastly differing backgrounds, training levels and roles within these facilities.

The Connections Museum is the only museum in North America dedicated to telecommunication history. It showcases a functioning Panel and Crossbar electromechanical central office switch, antique telephones, outdoor plant displays showcasing poles, cables and splicing equipment as well as cataloged reference material related to telecom.

Special Visits

School field trips or group sightseeing tours at Telephone Historical Centre staff can arrange for a docent to guide visitors through its 4,500-square foot museum, which chronicles and celebrates over 100 years of communications technology in Roseville and nationally. Exhibits at this museum include working operator switchboards as well as outside plant displays of poles, wires, cables, splicing equipment and tools; in addition to antique telephones and memorabilia.

Docent volunteers at the museum are retired ED TEL employees with an avid interest in telephone history. Their knowledge, enthusiasm, and entertaining approach makes for an informative tour that is fun for students of all ages.

The Telephone Historical Centre of Edmonton was a telecommunications museum founded by retired employees of ED TEL and closed down due to relevancy, financial issues and succession planning issues in April 2019.

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Telephone Historical Centre

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.

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The invention of the telephone revolutionized communications and opened up many avenues. If you own a business, understanding its history will enable you to adapt quickly to change and leverage new methods of communication to maximize its success. Visit Telephone Historical Centre Outreach Programs for more information – maybe even apply as a Student Caller!

The Impact of the Telephone on the World

The telephone and its predecessors telegraph and radio forever altered communication, freeing people to communicate over long distances without physically transporting themselves to meet.

The telephone has also enabled many to form closer relationships than would have otherwise been possible, especially within businesses such as stockbroking or accounting services, who could maintain contact with clients much easier than before.

But telephone use had some drawbacks, including compromised privacy issues. Early telephone users could sometimes hear your conversations on public phones which could allow eavesdroppers to overhear personal conversations as you conducted business on them.

These negatives were addressed in the twentieth century through advancements in telecom technology, particularly digital networks, making the telephone one of the greatest innovations ever invented. Today it continues to shape lives more profoundly than any other invention ever could.

The Impact of the Telephone on Business

One of the greatest inventions ever, the telephone has had an extraordinary effect on business. Without it, communication would have been much harder and businesses couldn’t operate effectively.

Before the invention of telephones, people relied solely on word of mouth or written correspondence in order to communicate. This made it hard for friends and family living far apart to stay in contact with each other.

As soon as telephone technology was created, people could connect quickly and effortlessly from any part of the country or world, creating a sense of community and making it easier for individuals to discuss everyday issues.

The Impact of the Telephone on Education

As soon as the telephone was introduced, it revolutionized communication methods between individuals. Now they could instantly call anyone anywhere around the globe instead of waiting days or weeks for letters to arrive by post.

The invention of mobile phones also revolutionized education. Students could now use them during lectures to take notes, as well as access a wealth of information at any given moment.

These changes facilitated learning for all; from children who were just entering school to working adults looking to continue their education.

Even as educators recognize the many positive uses for mobile phones, many educators remain concerned about their negative repercussions for students. Studies indicate that when students become distracted by their mobile phones they find it harder to focus on their studies.

The Impact of the Telephone on Society

The telephone was an immense advance in communications technology that revolutionized how we connect. It allowed people to stay in contact across distance or geography barriers while unifying families and friends who may otherwise have been distantly located.

Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone in 1876, quickly realizing its potential as a means of communicating. Although its invention was revolutionary, there were also negative aspects.

One of the key aspects of the telephone was its long-distance calling capacity; before its invention, communication between distant individuals could only occur through costly couriers or expensive trips.

The telephone has also made marketing products much simpler for companies. Classified ads enable businesses to promote themselves more easily while customers could directly reach out for information regarding services provided by each business.

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Telephone Historical Centre Collections

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections span the beginnings and development of telephony, from its first factory in Brantford through today’s research laboratories. They feature documents, photographs, and equipment documenting its manufacture from start to finish.

The Telephone Historical Centre features several interactive stations where visitors can experience operating early 20th century phones – wall-mounted hand-crank magneto phones, dial phones and manual switchboards are among them.

Telephones

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections contain a diverse assortment of telecommunications artifacts. These include antique and modern rotary dial phones, switchboards, telephone kiosks and other forms of technology related to telecommunications.

These items showcase Edmonton’s history of communications; for example, one of the manual telephones featured here first came into use in Edmonton back in 1885.

Early automatic switching telephones that could make calls without needing a line operator first appeared in use in the 1920s.

Bell Canada’s telephone historical collection spans from the 1870s to present day, documenting manufacturing of telephones and development of telephone networks as well as Bell’s role in this development.

Switchboards

Switchboards were essential components of the telecom network, connecting circuits between telephone lines and providing points of intersection. Over time, manual switchboards were eventually replaced by automated telephone exchanges.

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections features a two-position Kellogg Universal switchboard installed at Gridley in 1946. It provides an interactive visitor display enabling operators to connect telephone circuits between cord pairs and lamp pairs using three toggle switches.

Each cord pair is connected by two keys that the operator can use to ring local or long distance phones physically or by “flash,” allowing both parties to speak simultaneously with that cord pair.

Operators could also assist customers in placing direct-dialed calls directly to distant cities if their local operator had been informed that a particular phone number could be dialed directly by long distance operators. In larger cities, special numbers, such as 112, would be dialed directly in order to connect directly with long distance providers.

Telephone Kiosks

The Telephone Historical Centre Collections offers long-term exhibits of antique telephones and related telecommunications technology, dating back from manual switchboards to automated switching systems.

There are interactive stations where visitors can experience history first-hand by taking on the role of an early 20th century telephone operator. These hands-on displays feature audiovisual presentations, background projections and musical offerings.

Some kiosks listed by BT as historically or architecturally significant are responsible for their color, components, materials and repositioning; it is therefore advised that any painting, structural repairs or inspections be completed by companies experienced with dealing with these structures.

Britain’s red Telephone Kiosk, or K6, was one of eight kiosk types introduced by the General Post Office between 1926 and 1983. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, these four-sided cast-iron and glass boxes with domed roofs remain widely visible across Britain today.

Oral Histories

Oral histories are an invaluable way of reconstructing the past, acting as an ideal alternative to correspondence files, diaries and personal notes as sources for historical knowledge. Oral histories connect directly to participants of an event and clarify what has and hasn’t been said regarding an issue; providing insights which cannot be found through written records alone.

Oral history is an interview-based process used to gather primary source materials, such as audio or video recordings of interviews conducted between an oral historian and their subjects (narrators). Its goal is to capture original historical information that might otherwise go undocumented.

An oral historian should conduct interviews in an ethical and respectful manner, using research-driven questions to address issues raised. A good interviewer must also have empathy for his or her interviewee and an ability to listen empathetically; otherwise it becomes just another technique used for recording rather than an art form.

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