Telephone historical centres serve as acquisition, research, organization, documentation and exhibition centers dedicated to telecommunications artifacts. Their collections spark both children’s and adults’ curiosity about technology, innovation and culture – from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted phones with operator direction through modern day multifunctional mobile phones.
This article seeks to describe HBEC’s telephone outreach project designed to keep registry participants engaged during the pandemic, and highlight key results and lessons learned so as to encourage replication of such efforts.
American Museum of Telephony
The American Museum of Telephony is one of North America’s oldest and largest telecommunications museums, providing educational programs and exhibits to locals as well as tourists alike. Their collections feature vintage telephones, switchgear, and early telegraph equipment – plus tours and public events!
The collections at this museum tell tales of innovation, technology and culture. They demonstrate how telecommunications have progressed from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall-mounted operator-directed phones to sleek portable multifunctional smartphones produced today; furthermore they demonstrate the iterative design process behind such technologies.
Outreach workshops at this museum foster excitement for engineering by tapping into America’s rich history of phone innovation. These hands-on workshops help develop inquisitive minds, spark intrinsic curiosity and create a strong basis for STEM education. Volunteers play an essential part in fulfilling this mission by leading tours, managing youth activity tables and cataloguing memorabilia – some even possess formal artifact handling or library/archives experience – so the museum can continue building collections that honor creativity.
Gridley Museum of Independent Telephony
This small museum is an absolute must for those interested in telephone history. It pays homage to the numerous independent telephone companies that began operating after Alexander Graham Bell’s patent expired, featuring an old switch board, glass insulators and antique phones as well as an exact replica of a rural phone exchange.
Roger Kaufman, retired President of Gridley Telephone Company and avid collector, established this museum after collecting items and artifacts over time. To determine its feasibility he invited several citizens together in Gridley for consultation purposes on creating such an institution.
The museum houses many antique rotary telephones. Additionally, there is an impressive collection of telephone kiosks, commonly referred to as “pillar boxes”, used by early telephone companies; with different designs such as those found before 1920 in England.
New Hampshire Telephone Museum
The New Hampshire Telephone Museum in Warner is an engaging place that explores how telephones have played an integral role in our lives, both historical and modern. Adults will appreciate its education-centric exhibits; children will love exploring it.
The museum opened in 2005 and currently features more than 1,000 phone-related artifacts, such as rotary phones, candlestick phones and wooden wall-mount phones; phone booths; princess phones and princess phones as well as switchboards and linemen’s tools from collections including those belonging to Violette Bartlett families and Garry Mitchell.
Paul Violette, manager of the museum, notes that those who think modern communication technology has vastly outshone its predecessor are misinformed. According to him, calls don’t connect wirelessly from wall-to-wall – rather, they go from tower to tower before returning back again – creating a complex process involving various networks working in unison.
Telephone Historical Centre
Telecommunication museums preserve and exhibit the history of communication innovation. Their collections spark curiosity in both children and adults about technology, culture and human factors behind these inventions, from Alexander Graham Bell’s solid wood wall phones with operator direction to Thomas Watson’s humper phone to modern multifunctional smartphones.
Telecommunication museums not only preserve telephone-related artifacts and equipment, but they also offer public tours for students, groups, or individuals. The ED TEL Telephone Museum in Edmonton, Alberta features antique phones as well as a complex panel switchboard so visitors can experience technology first-hand. Visitors to this telecommunications museum can test crank phones, explore classic rotary dial phones and discover antique line insulators while former employees from the telecom company themselves guide them through its collections – offering an unforgettable hands-on learning experience! Accredited by Museums Alberta, this must-visit attraction for anyone interested in telephone history.
