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Volume 18, Number 10 October 15, 2004

NewsletterNewsletter

Telephone Collectors InternationalTelephone Collectors International

Inside this issue . . . A Conversation with Donald Genaro– a Living Legend of Telephone Design

Jonathan D. Finder, MD

When one thinks of telephonedesigners, one name tends to come up, thatof Henry Dreyfuss (1904-1972). Thedesigners of the early telephones wereprobably anonymous employees of the BellSystem (as well as of the independenttelephone manufacturers) who wereengineers first and designers second. BellLaboratories realized that their telephoneswere lacking in design and so in 1929 held a“Telephone of the Future” contest. Thiscontest was won by a 25 year old man namedHenry Dreyfuss.

His first telephone for the BellSystem, the WE302 (or “H” mounting), stillstands as a hallmark in American design andis still being produced today (after a fashion,by a catalog home furnishing company).Dreyfuss’ attention to the human factor indesign of telephones is partly why his firm’sdesigns have had such lasting power andwhy the relationship he and his firm forgedwith the Bell System would last more thanhalf a century, indeed even beyond hisdeath. The best source on Henry Dreyfussis a wonderful book called Henry Dreyfuss,Industrial Designer: The Man in the BrownSuit by Russell Flinchum.

What most people do not realize isthat Henry Dreyfuss did not work alone, andhad a design team that created the abovetelephones. What made the Dreyfuss teamspecial was their use of ergonomics,something that very few design firms hadpreviously used. Ergonomics refers to thescience of making the form fit the person.Ergonomics is not what comes to mind whenone considers early telephones like the“candlestick” desk stands.

The WE302 was designed “fromthe inside out” by Dreyfuss associates, forthe Bell System, and contrasted with the

work of designers who were hired after thefact to “soften” products after they had beencreated. Dreyfuss’ firm used measurementsfrom thousands of people to establishnormal values on which to base the humanelements of design (like the distancebetween mouth and ear in the rational designof the telephone handset). These manymeasurements (the science of which isknown as anthropometrics) resulted in thepublication of the industry standardguidebook, The Measure of Man: HumanFactors in Design by Henry DreyfussAssociates in 1960. This book remains inprint, revised and updated, most recently in2001, and renamed The Measure of Man andWoman: Human Factors in Design.

Henry Dreyfuss and his firmpioneered the science of ergonomics indesign, which would later become the singlemost dominant force in the industrial designworld. Indeed, Dreyfuss’ 1950autobiography was tellingly named“Designing for People.” Dreyfuss wrote anarticle called “Adapting Products to People”in the Bell Telephone Magazine, in which hesaid “We are not in the profession of style orfashion. Ours is a basic profession; ourdesigning must be generic by nature. If themost contemporary of design can be called“classic,” then call us classicists.” No onecan argue that Henry Dreyfuss Associateshave created the classics of telephonedesign.

One crucial member of Dreyfuss’design team would eventually lead the teamafter the death of Dreyfuss. This man,Donald Genaro, would work side-by-sidewith Henry Dreyfuss for 15 years and thencarry on the Dreyfuss tradition of designwith the human form in mind. As Mr. Generowill describe below in his own words, he is

North of the BorderAwards & ShowPhotosPg 11

Ring, Talk and Listen... Pg 7

Decisive Moments inTelecommunications History:The Bell System's First NewAutomatic Dial System Part 2 of 2 Pg 8

Buy-Sell-Trade Pg 13

40 Years Ago...1964/1965 New YorkWorld's Fair -World's Fair BoothsFeature Push-ButtonCallingPg 6

Two Antique TelephoneShows Coming Up Soon!

Central California ShowNovember 13, 2004

Southeast Regional ShowJanuary 15, 2005

See Page 7 for details on bothshows . . .

Coming next month....

First in a series of articles onpreserving and archiving telephonydocuments in digital format.

OCTOBER 2004 TCI SINGING WIRES

responsible for critical elements of thedesign of the Princess, for the completedesign of the 2500, and for the creation anddesign of the boldest change to date of theBell system: the first “dial-in-handset”telephone, the Trimline. This telephone isthe forerunner of every cell phone andcordless telephone in use today, andremains the most commonly producedcorded telephone manufactured to this day.

Mr. Genaro has retired fromDreyfuss and Associates but remains activein his community. I recently had the honor ofexchanging a few calls and emails with himand he lent me some source materials uponwhich I based this article. I cannot begin todescribe the feeling I had in being able to talkto Mr. Genaro about his career — being ableto talk to a person who worked side-by-sidewith Henry Dreyfuss, and who went on todesign nearly every telephone produced byAT&T since 1965. In a sense Donald Genarois a living piece of history. He might disagreewith this but I can tell you I felt like I was ableto call and email Watson or Bell as I workedon this article.

First, some basic biography.Donald M. Genaro was born in 1932 inHoboken, NJ and attended local publicschools. He served an apprenticeship at FWFisher Architects prior to entering the USArmy during the Korean War. After leavingthe service, he entered the Pratt Institute,where he received a degree in IndustrialDesign. Mr. Genaro joined Henry DreyfussAssociates (HDA) in 1956 – a job he appliedfor even before graduating from Pratt. Heworked at HDA from 1956 through 1995. Hebecame an associate at the firm in 1963 anda partner shortly thereafter. Henry Dreyfussretired in 1969, and Mr. Genaro carried on thetradition of design excellence at his firm foranother 25 years – the last 15 years as itssenior partner. Mr. Genaro has developedproducts for AT&T/Bell Labs, John Deere,Polaroid, Singer, American Standard,Banker’s Trust, American Airlines, Olivetti,British Aircraft, Matsushita, and Hitachi. Heis a member of the Industrial DesignersSociety of America and has been recognizedby awards from many professionalorganizations. His designs are included inthe permanent collections of the Museum ofModern Art and at the SmithsonianInstitute’s National Design Museum. Heholds over 200 patents and has lectured on

design at many prominent universities. ThePratt Institute recently put a display outhonoring his work. I am happy to havedonated a new old stock Trimline from myown collection for this exhibit.

Upon retirement, Mr. Genarobecame the Chairman of the Board ofDirectors of the Pascack Valley Hospital. Healso serves the Board of Directors of theWell Care Group, a New Jersey healthcaresystem. His commitment to healthcarereflects his long interest and dedication increating designs that demonstrate a concernfor the user.

Mr. Genaro and his colleagues atHDA designed nearly every telephoneproduced by AT&T that is in use today. In1977, Fortune magazine described theTrimline telephone “one of the 25 best-designed products available in Americatoday.” The New York Times, in a review ofthe Pratt Institute’s Exhibition on IndustrialDesign (“Corvettes to Cuisinarts: SixDecades of Diversity in Industrial Design”)used the coined word “beautility” todescribe the kind of work featured – a wordthat nicely summarizes the work of Mr.Genaro – beauty and utility fused.

Donald Genaro has said, “If peoplenotice the design, it has probably failed.”This sentiment crystallizes the nature ofgood industrial design – a natural seemingdesign of a functional product does not callattention to itself.

I contacted Donald Genaro to learnmore about his career, especially about hiswork with telephone design.

Jonathan D. Finder: Were you trained inelectrical engineering?Donald M. Genaro: My training did notcover electric engineering but anunderstanding of its basic principles isnecessary for an industrial designer topractice successfully.

JDF: Can you tell me a bit about workingwith Henry Dreyfuss?DMG: I am indeed fortunate to have hadalmost 15 years at his side. His main concernwas always the user and he insisted thatsafety, ease of use, maintenance, ergonomicand cost issues be addressed in the designprocess and that they not be subservient toaesthetic goals. Henry had an abiding andintensive interest in the needs of his fellow

Gerald Neal, ’06, [email protected] Kotke, ’07, Vice [email protected] Corcione, ’06, [email protected] Conklin, ’06, [email protected] Goff, ’07, Membership [email protected] Aydelotte, ‘07, [email protected] Fierce, ‘05, [email protected] W. Howard, ‘[email protected] Mattingly, ‘05, BOD314-921-6877 ext 31John Novack, ’07, [email protected] Schelthoff, ’05, [email protected] Sims, ’06, [email protected] Stettler, ‘05, [email protected] Tubbs, ‘06, [email protected] Magnus, Switchers [email protected] Massey, Editor Singing [email protected] [email protected] & Bev McFadden, Editor [email protected]

TCI Phone: 801-849-6520

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Americans and the designs produced by hisoffice reflected his wish to improve theirdaily lives through good design.

JDF: What was your involvement intelephone design prior to The Trimline?DMG: When I joined the office [in 1956], thePrincess development was fairly well alongthough I became involved in some detailimprovements in handset cradling,recontouring for the touchtone dial andintroduction of a “lip” on the base just aboveand below the dial which permitted the entireset (with handset in place) to be picked upand carried in one hand. This “lip” orundercut, was accomplished by providingretractable pieces (slides) in the tool.“Witness lines” can be seen on the front andback of the Princess base that are the resultof these slides.

It should be noted that earlyPrincess sets had no ringer in the base (it wasa separate item which attached to the wallbaseboard) to make the set as light and petiteas possible. The phone was viewedprimarily has a bedroom phone; its smallfootprint was advantageous for night-tableplacement, and its light weight wasconsidered a plus when one took the phoneto use in bed. The lighted dial also reinforcedthis perception. Cost and skittish rotarydialing problems put the ringer (and someweight) back into the base early on, whichcaused a slight increase in the set’s girth,prompting the “lip” mentioned above.

In those early days, I also had detailinvolvement on the 554 wall set (creases onthe set’s shoulder’s that allowed temporaryplacement of the handset during a call),initial speakerphone models, the CallDirector set, and numerous pay stationfacilities (phone booths and shelf units).Just prior to the Trimline, I designed the 2500touchtone set which retained most of thedesign features of the 500 set except for theentire front portion of the base whichreceived the flat surfaced removable faceplate surround the new dial. Contouring andspacing of the keys was also part of thisstudy.

JDF: What can you tell me about thedevelopment of the Trimline?DMG: The Trimline broke from traditionaltelephone design by combining thetransmitter, receiver, dial, and most

Tuesday, February 9th, 1982 at Luchows, N.Y.C.Don Ameche, star of the 1939 movie The Story of Alexander Graham Bell”

with Loretta Young and Henry Fonda, prepares to cut a four-foot-long chocolate cakein the shape of an 1882 model telephone to celebrate AT&T’s 100 years of phonesfor the home. Assisting Mr. Arneche is Don Genaro, Senior Partner of HenryDreyfuss Associates, designers of communications apparatus for AT&T overseveral decades.

important components in one lightweightunit. Placed on its base, the design is viewedas a single, sculptured piece. It was a radicaldeparture from previous models, both in itstechnology and appearance. The basicconcept underlying the Trimline was thedial-in-handset which permitted alloperations of placing and receiving calls tobe done with one piece of equipment ratherthan two.

Bringing the functioning parts ofthe phone up to the user had a number of usebenefits – e.g., the poorly sighted might dialwithout glasses; as a bedside phone therewere human factor gains in usage; with theswitch hook in the handset, there wasn’t aneed to return to the base when makingmultiple calls, etc. The set at rest, or “onhook”, presented an easily cleanablesurface with all the dust-sensitivecomponents and openings protected.

This dial-in-handset concept,while new to the consumer market, hadactually been in use internally by the BellSystem since 1939 as a lineman’s test set.With one piece of equipment the linemanwas able to attach leads to a line, dial throughon one side of the instrument, and then turnit over to use the transmitter and receiver.This set did not look too different from astandard handset except that a miniature dialwas positioned atop the handset behind thereceiver. This lineman’s handset was asimple and direct solution to a compactcommunications device for field use, andhad been worked on by the Dreyfuss officein the 30’s. However, when the sameproblem was given over for development asa consumer product, it went through allkinds of convoluted shapes before reachingits final, functionally expedient andsculptural form.


Two different, but relatedconceptual design ideas were explored aspossible solutions. The first was theconcept of a one-piece instrument without abase, which would sit or lie on a flat surface;the second, and one ultimately leading to theTrimline as it was marked, was the concept ofa handset with a base. Many of the earlyefforts, in both directions, wereunsuccessful mostly because theyattempted to combine existing componentsin ways they were never intended to be used.Such a concept as a dial-in-handsetdemanded a completely new approach, freeof existing preconceptions, technologiesand components.

The Trimline began to emerge afterthousands of rough sketches followed byclay models and then plaster to allow detailrefinements of the design and offer a moresubstantial surface for the evaluation oftactile qualities, handset-to-base cradling,etc. Throughout this work, human factor(ergonomic) requirements wereinvestigated using the anthropometric

techniques the Dreyfuss office originated toestablish cheek clearance, modal angle, anddistance between receiver and transmitter,button spacing, etc. At each stage there wasclose collaboration with Bell Labs engineersas they were developing new components.Breakthroughs in many areas had verypositive effects, e.g., a flexible printed circuit“board”, moving finger stop for the rotarydial to reduce the dial’s diameter withoutseriously reducing finger hole dimensions,and the downsizing of numerouscomponents. Both a desk and a wall basewere designed, optimizing the best solutionfor both. Designs for both a rotary andtouchtone version were pursued with asmuch appearance commonality as possible.One wonders how much condensing of thedesign program could have beenaccomplished in today’s designenvironment what with CAD/CAM[computer aided design/computer aidedmanufacturing], etc., but then would theresults be the same or would that version bemissing the subtleties of surface

manipulation and attention to detail thatwere only brought on by hands-on designenvironment?

JDF: What was it like working withWestern Electric/Bell Labs? Can youshare with me anything of the challenges ofworking with electrical engineers and thetechnical side of things?DMG: Most, if not all, of the early Trimlinedevelopment was with Bell Labs engineersat Holmdel, NJ who had recently moved fromtheir Murray Hill, NJ location. As the designprogram began to approach the workingprototype stage, the small contingent of BellLabs engineers at Western Electric’sIndianapolis plant became involved to carryout value engineering and ready things fora preproduction run. Western Electricengineers were introduced to thedevelopment as questions ofmanufacturability arose.

I’ve had the rare privilege ofworking with some of the world’s greatestengineers. They seldom said “no” to an idea

Don Genaro, Senior Partner of Henry Dreyfuss Associates


but rather were stimulated by the seeminglyimpossible and welcomed a challenge. Mostsuccessful designs are the product ofcollaboration between many team membersand would never see the light of day were itnot for their contributions.

JDF: Were you involved in the redesign ofthe Trimline – the second generation modelwith square buttons, lit by LED’s?DMG: I was involved in various generationsof Trimlines. Some were improvements,such as the square button dial. Unknown tomany casual observers, the original roundbutton dial had keys of varying heights toconform to the curve of the inner plane of thehandset. The square button dial rose from aflat plane with all the buttons the sameheight.

Some were questionableimprovements, such as the “universal base”which came later. This cost saving approachof having the same set serve both desk andwall situations did have a drawback on theTrimline’s appearance in the desk mode. Nothaving the base “roll under” as it came downto the desk top but simply cut off as mostproduct housings do, it took somethingaway from the sculptural quality of theoverall design. The old base came at a price,for as well as not being wall/desk compatible,it required “compression molding” (longermolding cycle) because of the varying wallthickness and slides in the tool toaccomplish the reverse taper on the basesside walls.

Therefore, the Trimline with squarebuttons and original desk base representsthe high water mark in its designdevelopment.

JDF: “What has it been like for you to seethe Trimline become the single most copiedtelephone ever made? Billions of them areout there – most are junk – does it botheryou?DMG: It’s been said that imitation is thesincerest form of flattery. This is perhapstrue if the imitation is true to the original butif it isn’t, it constitutes a denigration of theoriginal work and should be condemned.This unfortunately happens all too often. Acase in point is the Eames Lounge Chair,manufactured by Herman Miller.

There have been many“knockoffs” of this design but none come

near to the engineering, materials,construction and sheer beauty of thisclassic. Some are outright atrocious. Of latedesign patent protection has become aweapon to fight these plagiarists.

Not so the case with many of theBell System’s designs. Design patents weregotten but protecting against copies wasn’tpursued. All those Western Electric look-alikes from Automatic Electric, Kellogg…the Trendline, Slenderet, and Stylelinephones run the gamut of faithfulreproduction to missing or poorlyreproduced detail.

The Trimline, I’m pleased to say,became the seminal design for today’svaried communications products. But Iguess I’m showing my age when I take aclose look at today’s instruments…especially the vaunted cell phone. I thinkback to how we at Dreyfuss and the Bell Labshad certain incontrovertible requirements inthe design of telephones, e.g. ear seal, modalangle and distance, button spacing andtravel, comfortable grip, etc., etc. Thesetenets of comfort and optimized connectionhave given way to what seems almost

absurd when people hold those flat, toy-sized phones hard against their temples withthe mic pickup halfway to their ear. And thenthere is the incoming ring everyone nearbymust suffer. I suspect things have beenaltered irrevocably in the name ofprogress… But then I can remember someold timers at AT&T who thought the 500 setwas the epitome of telephone design andthis Trimline that their consultant Dreyfussand Bell Labs had dreamed up would neveramount to anything.

I will have more to share of Mr.Genaro’s insights into the moderntelephones, and on the design of thetouchtone keypad, and more next month.I am grateful to Mr. Genaro for taking thetime out to answer my questions for thiscolumn and to Henry Dreyfuss Associatesfor permission to print the image ofTrimline human factors thataccompanies this article. In a futurecolumn I will profile Mr. Genaro’smentor, Henry Dreyfuss, more fully.

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40 YEARS AGO...1964/1965 New York World's Fair

WORLD’S FAIR PHONE BOOTHS FEATURE PUSH-BUTTON CALLING

More than 1,400 modernistic telephone boothswith new Touch-Tone (push-button) telephones make iteasy for visitors at the New York World’s Fair to callfriends and family anywhere in the nation.

A new style open air booth — one of severaladvanced designs being unveiled at the Fair — consistsof units of three to five blue and white booths located atconvenient spots around the fairgrounds. The BellSystem calls them “serpentine” booths because of theirswirling line design.

Another even more elaborate booth is the familybooth which seats a group of people in an air-conditionedbubble that looks like a space helmet. The booth has notelephone receiver inside. Instead, it is equipped withhidden speaker and microphone so callers may talk andlisten “hands-free”.

To conserve space, many of the indoor publictelephones in fair buildings are compact cartridgephones that are either mounted on walls or built into them.

All public telephones at the Fair are the newTouch-Tone push-button models, which are beingintroduced in some parts of the nation this year.

The push buttons replace the familiar dial,making calling faster and more convenient. Combinedwith this is a new service that enables callers to dial alltheir long distance calls, including person-to-person,collect and credit card calls, directly to points throughoutthe country.

New York Telephone constructed a newswitching center in nearby Corona to serve the publictelephones at the Fair, as well as the 5,000 other phonesused by exhibitors and Fair offices. This modern centraloffice, which also handles calls from surroundingcommunities, was just one phase of the huge undertakingto provide modern communications far from the citywithin a city.

More than 500 million conductor feet oftelephone cable was installed in an underground conduit system atthe Fair. Facilities for radio, data transmission and teletypewriters arealso provided. A 140-foot microwave tower standing in front of theBell System Exhibit is used to relay television signals to and from theFair. In addition to commercial telecasting facilities, terminals andlines have been installed to operate at the Fair, the largest closed-circuit color television system in the world.

Yachtsmen at the New York World’s Fair Marina in Flushing Baycan make phone calls without leaving their vessels through a unique“ship-to-shore” telephone service.

Some Interesting Facts about the Bell System's Presenceat the Fair:

The Serpentine booth is one of the Bell System innovations at theNew York Worlds Fair. It features a Touch-Tone phone in each wavycoil [booth]. The model is Bell System Hostess Joan Solimine.

The typical hostess at the Bell System Exhibit at the World’s Fairis five feet five inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, is 25 years old andhas worked for the Bell System for five years.

Television programs to and from the New York World’s Fair willbe relayed through a 140-foot high microwave tower that is a workingpart of the Bell System Exhibit.

All public telephones at the New York World’s Fair are equippedwith push-buttons for Touch-Tone calling.

More than 175,000 telephone calls a day are being made to andfrom the 6,500 telephones at the New York World’s Fair.

Some telephone booths at the New York World’s Fair are largeenough to hold an entire family.


Ring, Talk and ListenJames William Diffey January 2003

Member Word Weavers/Myth Makers of Vacaville

Lumbering wagons pulled by mulesCarry Eighteen nineties high tech tools

Delivering the voice America hearsLeading the way for over one hundred years

There’s a phone on the table, a pole in the streetCables and wire leads that all go to meet

In today’s high tech office with digital gearComing together just so we can hear

Working on Ma Bells’ phone poleI sense what’s now in my soul,

Climbers, wrenches, hammers and pliersA cold north wind, and the hum of the wires

Shovel the dirt and tamp it tightEverything’s “spec” they did it just rightHang those cross arms straight and trueCause’ doing it right is what Linemen do

“D” ring, three bolt, lashing wire “bug”Tighten the through bolt just ‘til it’s snug

Step that pole double five and threeThen hang a load pot next to that tree

A ten-pin arm loaded with glassA Lineman’s test he must daily pass

Set your climbers pull hard on the ropeToday should be Friday that is our hope

Load the lasher and the cable reelHang the cables on bolts of steel

Looking down from high on the poleI watch the cable quickly unroll

The dangerous work in the overhead’s doneIn the underground now more work is begun

Moving blowers and tools to the dank cable vaultJoining thousands of wires, and nowhere a fault

Inside the “C.O.” they’re waiting to goBays of equipment stand row after row

With dial tone, switches and cross connect frameThe job is complete from household to main

Crafted with skill that’s admired the world wideA system not equaled though many have tried

The wires still hum, the satellites glisten,And telephones will always “Ring, Talk and Listen”

When:Saturday, November 13th, 20048 AM to 1 PMLocation of Show:St Francis Episcopal Church1205 Pine Ave (corner of Pine and Newport)San Jose, CA

Admission $2 Tables $10.00 each

Bay Area Show Gary Goff and Hal Belden areputting on.

For more info visit website at:http://www.vintagephone.com/SJShow.htmor call Hal Belden at 408-377-5864

Central California ShowSaturday, November 13, 2004

Southeast Regional ShowSaturday, January 15, 2005

Maitland (Orlando area), Florida

The show is at the Maitland Civic Center inMaitland, Florida (Three miles north of Orlando.)

The show hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Source:

Bell System press release. This article represents only a small fraction ofthe entire press release. To access the entire press release on the Internet,go to:http://www.bellsystemmemorial.com/miscellaneous.html.

A feature of the Bell System Exhibit at the New York World’s Fairis a 17-minute ride past a series of dramatic scenes which trace thedevelopment of communications from smoke signals to satellites.

The 400-foot long Bell System Building at the New York World’sFair appears to be a floating wing.

Bell Telephone Laboratories is conducting a research project atthe New York World’s Fair on the experimental Picturephone, whichenables callers to see each other as they talk on the phone.

An actual Telstar communications satellite is on display at theBell System Exhibit at the New York World’s Fair.


Decisive Moments in Telecommunications History:The Bell System's First New Automatic Dial System

Part 2 of 2

Author: Roger Conklin

EDITOR'S NOTE: Due to spacelimitations each month, this article had tobe split into two parts. For best storycontinuity, please refer back to Part 1 of thisarticle in the September issue of the SingingWires before reading Part 2 below.

But Cromwell’s book does refer to“the need for a new building” for a newNorfolk exchange that grew out of “warconditions.” On page 42 of his book there isa photograph of the old narrow 6-storytelephone building on Plume Street which, in1918 “formerly housed plant, traffic andcommercial forces, and was (then) usedexclusively as a central office building.” Theinference was that commercial and plantforces had been relocated elsewhere withexpansion of the manual switchboardsoccupying perhaps all 6 floors of thebuilding. The normal practice was for amanual switchboard to be housed in a singlelarge room, so being spread over up to 6different floors must have resulted in anoperational nightmare.

It seems most likely that the U. S.Navy was the real driving force thatcompelled Bell’s C&P Telephone Companyof Virginia to “fix the problem” by replacingits far too small, inefficient and antiquatedmanual switchboard with a newest and latestautomatic dial central office capable ofmeeting the Navy’s requirements forcommunications with the outside world vitalto support the war effort. It is also quitepossible that the Navy Base system was aslarge as, or maybe even larger, than the C&Psystem serving the city of Norfolk. Websitehttp://www.waltcummings.com/career/norfolk/nornavsta.htm discloses that todaythere are some 108,000 naval and marinepersonnel stationed at this navy base andthat it employs 43,000 civilian workers. Withthe country at war and given the importanceof the very best of communications to thesuccess of the war effort, it is easy tounderstand why the Bell System would haveyielded to government pressure to install a

totally new automatic telephone system toserve the city of Norfolk. Western Electric’sorder was placed on Automatic Electric verysoon after the U. S. declared war in 1917. Itwas a one-time order to solve a specificproblem, placed 2 years prior to the 1919signing of the first of 3 five-year contracts byAT&T for major purchases from AutomaticElectric. The latter contract had beentriggered by the 1919 Boston operators’strike that almost totally shut down Bell’sservice in Massachusetts for several weeks.But the actual Norfolk cutover did not takeplace until 2 years after the equipment wasordered; a year after the end of the war. Thedelay was due to the wartime shortage ofsteel necessary to construct the new centraloffice building.

Many of the mysteries aboutC&P’s new Norfolk automatic system arecleared up by studying the C&Padvertisement published in the NorfolkLedger-Dispatch on November 10, 1918.This advertisement titled “Norfolk’sAutomatic Telephones are Now in Service,”provided detailed instructions on how touse the new dial telephone. It is through thecourtesy of fellow antique telephonecollector Russ Cowell., who lives in nearbyWilliamsburg, VA and who located amicrofilm record of this advertisement in thearchives of this newspaper, that we nowhave answers to some of questions thathave puzzled telephone historians for manyyears. Those interested in having a beautifulsuitable-for-framing 11" x 14" copy of thisadvertisement are urged to contact Russ bye-mail at [email protected], or bytelephone at 757-258-2308.

This Norfolk installation was thevery first public automatic exchange in theUnited States with dial tone. The instructionreads “Remove the receiver from the hookand listen to a steady humming sound,known as “Dial Tone.” On all Strowgersystems up until this time the subscriber,when he removed the receiver, simplystarted dialing. If the equipment was not

This newsletter is published by David Massey& Renee Durham for Telephone CollectorsInternational. The opinions expressed in thisnewsletter are those of the members of TCIand do not necessarily reflect those of thepublishers or Telephone CollectorsInternational.

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M i n i - M e s s a g ef r o m t h e E d i t o r

I was hoping to receive more photos fromother people that attended the North of theBorder Show to put in this issue - but I'msorry to report that only one personcontributed photos. I hope to see a betterresponse next time.

On another topic, the Technical Talk articlethat I was planning on including this monthwill not be ready until the November issuedue to personal time contraints.


ready to receive dial pulses and the call didnot go through he hung up, removed thereceiver and dialed again. Dial tone was usedon Western Electric’s first European-madeType 7 Rotary Automatic system that hadbeen installed 5 years earlier in 1914 inDarlington, England, but until Norfolk, dialtone had never been provided with Strowgersystems the United States or elsewhere inthe world.

Norfolk’s new 5-digit telephonenumbers began with either a 2 or 3 Special-service codes were: 0 for the Long Distanceoperator, 101 to report a fire, 102 for anemergency police call, 1101 for repair Serviceand 1202 for Information (DirectoryAssistance). Short haul calls to nearbyexchanges were made through operators inthose cities reached directly by dialing 6 forBuckley, 14 for Chestnut, 17 for Holley, 13 forJuniper, 7 for Portsmouth and 17 for PigPoint. The PBX operator for thegovernment-owned system serving theNavy Base and Ocean View was reached bydialing 9.

Subscribers on party lines calledtheir party-line neighbor by dialing 18817,hanging up and waiting for their bell to ring.Both phones rang. When the ringingstopped the other party had answered, sothe caller took down his own receiver againto talk.

The sketches of telephone sets inthe advertisement show clearly that theywere Western Electric Type 51AL desk sets(candlesticks) and Type 653-G metal wallsets. These telephones are all shownequipped with Automatic ElectricMercedes-type dials.

One of the unanswered mysteriesis why were these Western Electrictelephones equipped with AutomaticElectric rather than Western Electric dials?Starting in 1916 the Western Electric No.1dial, made in limited quantities, was beingsupplied on telephones added to dial PBXsystems taken over by various Bellcompanies from customers who hadoriginally purchased them from AutomaticElectric for internal calling, but laternegotiated to sell them to the telephonecompany to have them connected to the Bellpublic network. It has also generally beenassumed by some that Western Electrictelephones made for and sold to Bellcompanies for use with earlier automatic

systems purchased from Independenttelephone companies were equipped withNo 1 dials, but the fact that the Norfolktelephones were provided with AutomaticElectric dials raises doubts in this regard.

The other unsolved mystery is whydid Western Electric purchase this newNorfolk automatic system from a competitor,Automatic Electric, rather than installing itsown Western Electric Type 7 RotarySystem? Western Electric Rotary had beendeveloped to sell in Europe, it was cost-competitive with Step-by-Step and beenperforming superbly since 1914 for WesternElectric’s international customers in Europe.The 7A Rotary system would seeminglyhave been ideal for the Norfolk exchange.This is an especially pertinent question,since during this very same war-time period,new 7A Rotary automatic exchanges forNorway, Switzerland, Holland and NewZealand were being manufactured atWestern Electric’s Hawthorne plant inChicago. The earliest Rotary systems weremade by Western Electric’s subsidiary BellTelephone Manufacturing Company inAntwerp, Belgium. Manufacture andsupport of the 7A Rotary System wastransferred from Antwerp to Chicago in 1914when the German Army invaded andsubsequently occupied Belgium, but only tofulfill contracts signed before the outbreakof World War I. There was no plan to deployit in the Bell System. Manufacture resumedin Antwerp in 1921.

The only logical explanation forwhy the Bell System chose AutomaticElectric’s Strowger step-by-step systemover its own 7A Rotary System for Norfolk(and subsequently for thousands of othersmall an medium-size American cities)appears to have its roots in personalityconflicts.

Development of the Rotary Systemhad started in Western Electric’slaboratories at the Hawthorne Plant inChicago shortly after the beginning of the20th century. By 1910 the first field trialinstallation, the 400 line semi-automaticRotary PBX, had been successfully placedin service at Western Electric’sheadquarters at 463 West Street in NewYork. But there was a conflict among theranks at Western Electric between two of itstop engineering vice presidents. The firstwas Frank McBerty, the father of the Rotary

System. The other was Dr. F. B. Jewett, wholater was named the first president of BellLabs, who favored abandoning McBerty’sRotary and dedicating all resources todeveloping his own idea of a Panel System,which he perceived would be superior foruse in the very large U. S. cities like New Yorkand Chicago. The decision made by J. J.Carty, AT&T’s chief engineer, was thatFrank McBerty would be transferred (somesaid “exiled”) to Antwerp wheredevelopment of the Rotary System wouldcontinue for Western Electric’s Europeanmarket, and that the Panel System would bedeveloped in the U.S. as the future standardautomatic switching system for the BellSystem in the U.S. and Canada. Bothsystems used the same flat-type relays andwere common-control systems withregister-senders and translators. They bothemployed revertive, rather than the directpulsing of the Strowger Step-by-stepsystem. Rotary used single-motion motor-driven switches that rotated through 360degrees (from which the system name wasderived). Panel employed a motor-drivenlateral-motion switching concept.

When the need for an automaticsystem for Norfolk arose because of theoutbreak of WW I, development of the PanelSystem was still several years short ofproducing a viable product. AlthoughRotary development was ahead of Panel andseveral successful rotary installations werealready in service, there is speculation thatdeploying Rotary for Norfolk would havebeen an admission of “error in judgment” onthe Rotary vs. Panel decision. Therefore itwas decided to save face and purchaseStrowger Step-by Step from a competitor forNorfolk rather than to admit such a judgmenterror. At that time it was expected thatStrowger Step-by-Step would be a one-time-only system for Bell, just for Norfolk, andthat Panel would still become the standardswitching system for the Bell System. As itturned out later, Panel was far too costly forall except the very largest U.S. cities andnone were ever deployed in Canada. Rotary,on the other hand, was much moreeconomical for a wide range of singleexchange sizes from a few hundred lines upto multiple-exchange very-large cities.Ultimately it was deployed in Paris,Shanghai, Madrid, Budapest, Bucharest,Zurich, Mexico City. Lima and Rio de Janeiro.


Rotary was eventually adopted as thenational standard for France, Spain,Hungary, Rumania, New Zealand and othercountries. (In 1925 AT&T sold itsinternational operations, which included theRotary switching system, to ITT whichsupplied Rotary in some 42 countries aroundthe world from Argentina and Afghanistanto Uruguay and Venezuela.)

The preserved records do notdisclose whether or not J. J. Carty, whoremained as chief engineer of AT&T until hisretirement in 1930, was present at the cutoverfrom the manual system to the new Strowgerautomatic Steep-by-Step system in Norfolk,Virginia on November 8, 1919. Whether ornot he was in attendance, he was probablyhoping nobody remembered his anti-automatic discourse to the Europeans at theParis conference 9 years earlier.

Sources:

1. The C&P Story, Service in Action – Virginia,Joseph H. Cromwell, Chesapeake and PotomacTelephone Co. of Virginia, 19812. The Electrical Review, & Western Electrician,Electrical Review Publishing Company,Chicago, Vol. 67 No. 1, page 794, Oct. 15, 19103. Telecom History, The Automatic Telephone– 1889-1918, Stan Swihart, Telephone HistoryInstitute, p. 14 & p. 87, 19954. Rehabilitation of the Antwerp Factory, J. S.Wright, Electrical Communications,International Western Electric Company, Vol. 1,No. 1, p. 32, August 19225. Telephone, The First Hundred Years, JohnBrooks, Harper & Row, 1975

North of the Border Show Photos

The show was really well attended by the public. We had 35 tables with exhibitorsfrom Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Illinois, New York and Pennsylvania. We had

a pre-show get-together at my house with lots of good company, and LOTS ofphone talk! A good variety of product was available, and with the high publicattendance, there was lots of buying and selling happening. From all reports,

everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show.

W e a w a r d e d p r i z e s a s f o l l o w s :

Best Wallphone - Bob Lewis (Commerical Blake)Best Deskset - Paul Simpson (Chisholm and Dunn Stick)

Most Unusual - Don Price (unusual display of wood wall phones)Most Educational - Al Ferguson

Best Display - Don WoodburyBest Overall - Art Hyde - (extensive collection of wood wall phones)

Lunch was provided to exhibitors by Rogers Wireless and Spotwave Wireless.

Next year's show will be held on Sept 24, 2005 in Kingston, Ontario.

Telephone Trivia

Don Woodbury

Herbert Hoover was the first U. S. Presidentto have a telephone on his desk at the WhiteHouse. All previous Presidents kept thephone in an adjoining room.

The word “telephone” is derived from theGreek words “tele” meaning “far off” and“phonos” meaning “sound.”

Among the hundreds of thingsinvented by Thomas Edison, isthe word “hello.” Edisonactually coined the word, derived from“holler” in 1889. Prior to that time the mostcommon word used when answering thetelephone was “yes.”


Paul Simpson's Display

Paul Simpson - Best Deskset

Art and Ray HydeDon Woodbury's Display

Roger MacDonald and Paul Vaverchak


A & B ANTIQUE TELEPHONE CENTER

SALES & RESTORATION EXPERT REPAIRS ON PREMISES ANTIQUE TELEPHONES, ROTARY, TOUCH-TONE AND

DECORATIVE SPECIALIZING IN HARD OF HEARING DEVICES SINCE

1970

A&B TEL ANTIQUE141-04 Northern BlvdFlushing, N.Y. 11354(718) 961-2929E-Mail: [email protected]

Parts available:

Cords: handset cords for Trimline, O.N.S. line cords,modular 7' 10or more $0.75 each.Trim line coild handset cord with the big plug,gold,4 or 5conductors,standard length. N.O.S.$2.-eachTrim line line cord one side big plug the other spade lugs,white, 5conductors N.O.S. $1.50 EachTransmitters and Receivers (500 style) tested. W.E. $4.- eachFor other parts contact us.

ITT Trendline desk phones - touch-tone,gold, N.O.S. roundbuttons not l.e.d. $28.- and rotary dial, white new in original boxes,$21.Trim lines shells and deck trim line, gold, for touch tone style $3.-trim line, gold complete base include ringer,hook switch $10. N.O.S. Trim line, gold, housing with plunger and screws $2.50. Usedhousing for rotary dial and touch tone with plunger removed fromservice. W.E. and others assorted colors $3.- Handsets plasticwith receiver and mouth piece cups W.E. and others $4.50 notincluding shipping.

Wally TubbsE-mail : [email protected] : 402.423.4716

WANT TO PURCHASE

(1) Western Electric beveled edge transmitter, either a 7 digit or an*ABT* marked, nickel in good shape(2) WE Long Pole receiver(3) Western Electric type 22 Candlestick in Nickel (this is the onewith the Hershey’s kiss perch and the external screw in the lowerside of the shaft to hold the internal contact board)

BUY/SELL/TRADE Continued on Next Page

| Buy | Sell | Trade |

High quality scans. Pages were scanned at 600 DPI resolutionfor high quality viewing on your computer monitor or for printingout on a laser or inkjet printer. Searchable. 180+ pages are text searchable making it quick

and easy to find key words or phrases using Adobe Acrobat. Includes Adobe Acrobat Reader in case you don't already have

a way to view, print or search Adobe Acrobat PDF files. Original scanner image files included. This allows you to

cut and paste schematics, tables, diagrams, etc. into otherapplications such as word processors or web pages. Bonus Files included. Watch two old Bell System movies on

your computer plus two additional document files you'll enjoy. Availabe on either a Gold or Silver CD-R Disc. 24K Gold

reflective layer Mitsui MAM-A CD-R's offers 100+ year life andvirtually 100% data reliability. Used by government agencies andhistorical archives for reliable long-term storage of critical data. Contents of the ITT TIMM-2 Manual include:

Identification and Ordering Information * Installation InformationLubrication and Cleaning * Trouble Shooting * Tools and TestEquipment * Handsets * Dials * Networks * Ringers * Contactsand Switches * Miscellaneous Units * Paystation PhonesTelephone Loudspeakers * "Cinderella" Phones * Wall PhonesRotary Dial Wall Phones * "Tel-Touch" Wall Phones * DeskTelephones * Rotary Dial Desk Phones * "Tel-Touch" DeskPhones * 2-Line Rotary Dial Desk Phones * 3-Line Rotary Dial DeskPhones * 5-Line Rotary Dial Key Phones * 5-Line "Tel-Touch" DialKey Phones * "Corinthian" Multi-Line Key Phones

To order, please send $11 in cash, USA check or money orderpayable in US funds for the gold CD or $10 for the silver CD to:

David Massey2853 Spicewood LaneKennesaw, GA 30152

USABoth prices include shipping via first class mail to USA andCanadian addresses. Please add $2 for International shipments.

This manual goes beyond what you'll find in Bell System Practices.So even if you only collect Western Electric phones like me, youstill need this manual full of schematics, diagrams, tables,descriptions and photos of Western Electric style telephonesmade by ITT under license from Western Electric such as thecommon 500 set to ITT's Princess look-alike model, Cinderella.

CD FEATURES AND CONTENTS:

TELEPHONE INSTRUMENT MAINTENACE MANUAL CDScanned from original paper copy published in 1968.


| Buy | Sell | Trade |John [email protected]

FOR SALE

Mounting cord, non modular, Ivory,rubber over rubber, 3 or 4 wire, fits early(1955) 500 set 1955 date preferred, to matchthe set.

WANT TO PURCHASE

Anyone have a MANUAL Contempra setfor sale? Even a MANUAL handset? Sawsome several years ago at a North of theBorder show, and regret not buying oneever since.

Cook electric/Northern Telecom digitalannouncer MANUALS , for the 213 (300)series, and the NT7M 25AA andNT7M26AA. Scanned or originalpreferred, but good copy also acceptable.

I have the NT5 series manuals scanned, ifanyone needs one.

Gary [email protected]

FOR SALE

Reproduced rubber bottom covergaskets for AE round base, AE 34 and AE 40desksets. I have sold hundreds of thesereplacement gaskets or seals and customersappear to be very happy with them judgingby the return business. The cost is $10 each,to your door. Any over the first one are $9each.

Bell Sytem tape measure, in MINTcondition. Appears to be NOS. This is thesmall, round celluloid unit with clothmeasuring tape. The Bell logo is on one sideand a female telephone operator on theother. Cost is $75 plus shipping.

Automatic Electric Type 32miniature subset. This is a rare item, notmany around. It measures approx4.5 x 2.5 x2.5 and was made to be used as the “guts” forany AE wall or deskset that did not haveinternal induction coil. There is no ringer inthis small bakelite box. Cost is $35 pluspostage.

AE 40 “Butler’s Handle,” the “U”shaped handle that snaps into two holes inthe plunger appliances in the cradle, underthe handset. I had one dozen of these castand plated. They are very nice. The cost is$35. each plus postage.

TRADE OR CASH

Bashlin Telephone Disinfector,NOS, in the original small box, complete withoriginal disinfectant paper filters. This itemis for TRADE for some other nice telephoneattachment or special mouthpiece or device.Trade and cash works too!

WANT TO PURCHASE

Unique telephone attachments,such as a telephone dial locking device, thetype that fits over the entire dial and not justinto one finger hole. Western Electric OST orpony receivers. Original green W.E. receivercords, pin ends. 1921 Bell Logo porcelainsigns, 11x11 size, mint condition.

Cliff Sullivan4902 West Monte Cristo Ave.Glendale, Az. [email protected]

FOR SALE (PLUS SHIPPING)

• A/E mini-networks $6 each....10 ormore $5each.• A/E small ringers e/w capacitor....$3each• A/E Transmitters and Receivers ...6 ofeach...$9.99• W.E. Brown Coiled Cloth ModularHandset Cords, Standard Size $5 each.....10 or more $3.50 each• AT&T Windows & Instruction Cardsfor Single Slot Coin Phones (New-in-Package)............$5 each.• W.E. NOS Rust Modular 25' HandsetCord....................$6

The educational and funTelephone CD includes printable picturesof telephones of the past, some noveltyphones, many sounds, short history,poem, slide shows with sounds and screensaver with many background sounds.Slide shows can be shown using themouse or arrow keys or automated and runin a loop where displays would be useful.The Telephone CD includes 10 craftsprojects Alexander Graham Bell mask,matching card game, Western UnionTelegraph Night Message note card,stereoscopic card of Mr. R.W. Sears andStrowger telephone, telephonebookmarks, telephone message pad, atelephone puzzle, Eiffel Tower telephonepyramid, word search puzzle and atelephone mobile project. All projects canbe printed on your own paper or card stock.All this on one CD.

Program can be run from the CD orinstalled to the hard drive. Windows only!Suitable for Middle School, High Schooland possibility upper Elementary. A trulyeducational experience even for adults.Give one to your local school! Keep thepast alive.

$10.00 plus $3.85 Priority MailShipping. (Continental United Statesonly) For other mail options e-mail orwrite. Personal checks, money orders andpaypal accepted. E-mail address andpaypal: [email protected]. Sendto: Paul A. Rauth ATCA and TCI, 372Westbrook Court, Marshall, MI 49068.

Telephone Collectors International Singing Wires · 2013-07-15 · The best source on Henry...

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