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.
