$13,000,000 Deal Made By Phone

AN OPERATOR in the exchange of the New York Telephone Company placed a call to Stockholm, Sweden, which resulted in the closing of a $13,000,000 deal, although she did not know it until after completing connections. The call, originating in the offices of a New York bank, verified the delivery of certain sums to interested parties in both New York and Stockholm. Read the rest of this entry »

A Private Booth on Your Desk

You can insure absolute privacy and secrecy with

“SCHER’S IMPROVED TELEPHONE MUFFLER”

You need not leave our desk or go to a private booth to talk freely, and confidentially over the phone. This invention gives the equivalence of a telephone booth.
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The exact same quote about being assigned a phone number at birth is used in the Mechanix Illustrated article Your Telephone Of Tomorrow (Sep, 1956). If you haven’t read that one, be sure to check it out, it pretty much predicts modern cell phones.

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Voices Across the Land

Night and day I keep singing—humming and thrumming:

It is love and war and money; it is the fighting and the tears, the work and want,

Death and laughter of men and women passing through me, carrier of your speech,

In the rain and the wet dripping, in the dawn and the shine drying,

A copper wire.

—Carl Sandburg

Under a Telephone Pole Screwdriver and splicing knife hanging from his belt, the telephone man keeps history’s happiest invention humming from coast to coast. He watches over 265 million miles of wire, waging war against storm, disaster and pesky animals that chew up or nest in his equipment. He hoists his lines over mountains with helicopters, shoots them across canyons with bow and arrow, strings them through dark conduits far beneath great cities. To every home and office, he gains ready entrance, exuding courtesy and helpfulness.
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The “Petite,” a compact new extension telephone with illuminated dial, has been introduced by Stromberg-Carlson Division of General Dynamics for the independent telephone industry. The dial light glows dimly when the ‘phone is not in use, lights up brightly for dialing when the handset is picked up. Subscriber can turn off the light entirely by a switch in the base. Although the “Petite” has no built-in ringer, a compact wall-type bell box is available so that it can be used as a primary telephone instead of as an extension. The new narrow shape is intended to make the instrument more convenient for bedside table and other applications.

Not quite sure why this requires such a huge speaker, or any speaker at all…

Sound Film Now Repeats Dialed Telephone Numbers

THE principal convenience of the dial telephone was that it enabled you to pick your own wrong numbers, but even this is done away with now by a sound film which repeats the number which you have just dialed and enables you to correct the mistakes which you may have made.

The new invention does not necessitate the use of the subscriber’s voice. The subscriber merely dials the number and that number is called to central as the sound film automatically repeats the number through a loud speaker. The new method is expected to be put in use before the end of the year. Read the rest of this entry »

Light Me Up by Phone Some Time!

MERRIAM HOPKINS, Paramount motion picture star, has had installed at the studio a telephone which flashes a light instead of ringing the well-known bell.

This arrangement becomes necessary if a star or other picture employee expects phone calls while working in the sound-proof talkie studio.

Phone Booth Needs No Door
A DE LUXE telephone booth, utilizing a sound absorbent material instead of glass or wood panels, is the latest development of the Burgess Battery Company, of Chicago, Ill. Open around the base, and because of the remarkable absorption qualities of the lining, no door is required. This feature of the design facilitates natural ventilation and easy cleaning, yet greater privacy is achieved than in the ordinary closed booth.

Raising a Switchboard One Floor without Stopping the Telephone Service

The novel expedient of raising a main switchboard from the first to the second floor of the telephone exchange at West Palm Beach, Florida, was accomplished recently without at all interfering with the telephone service. The telephone company had added a floor to the building and then decided to get the switchboard up on it in such a way that the change would not embarrass the subscribers.
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HOW TO TAP A PHONE

By Tony Karp

THERE are many ways to tap a phone; most of them against the law. Our little gadget, however, is quite legal and can be used to great advantage at home or in the office.

Basically, the unit consists of a pickup coil, an amplifier and a speaker. The pickup coil is placed under, or near, any transformer-type telephone without being in physical contact with it. As the electrical currents pass through the phone, part of the energy is induced into the pickup coil. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is the new push-button office telephone…

the CALL director

for the person who makes a lot of calls, or takes a lot of calls This is the most advanced and flexible telephone ever offered to business! More than a new product, the Call Director is a new concept in telephone design and service.

It provides fast, easy handling of outside and interoffice calls plus special features to fit your communications needs. By pushing a button you can— Read the rest of this entry »

Bill-Saving Lock for Dial Phones

LONG distance and other expensive calls made over your telephone without your consent can be prevented by a dial lock now being marketed. The lock consists of a metal cover which fits snugly over the dial, and is equipped with a lock which holds it firmly in place, as illustrated in the accompanying photo. Key may be carried on ring.

Pushbuttons replace dials on telephone

Tests in regular service last winter at Carnegie and Greensburg, Pa., suburbs of Pittsburgh, have shown it’s easier and more than twice as fast to press buttons for a phone call than it is to twirl a dial. As each “touch-tone” button is pushed, it sounds a pleasing musical tone.

Bell is introducing the phone area by area, will nave it in general use within the next 10 years.