Extension Arm for Phone Holds the Receiver

THE strain of holding a telephone receiver to the ear for long periods has attracted the attention of inventors and a new telephone instrument recently placed on the market is equipped with an extension receiver that can be adjusted and held stationary in any convenient position, thus leaving the user’s hands free.

The receiver, to which the extension is attached by means of a flexible tube, is hung from a bracket attached to the telephone stem, while a ball weight serves to keep the hook down when the instrument is not in use. When telephoning, the user lifts the weight and places it upon a bracket, thereby releasing the hook. The extension is adjusted by bending the flexible tube.

This is pretty damn cool. I would have loved to take a tour of my local switchboard.

“Ever Seen Your Telephone Switchboard?”

It’s a fascinating sight — the inside of a telephone central office where your telephone may be connected with the whole Bell System.

Would you like to know more about the telephone and what happens when you make a call?

Your Bell Telephone Company will be glad to show you. Visitors are welcome and we believe you will have a most interesting time. Why not call the Business Office and arrange a visit?

BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM
You are cordially invited to visit the Bell System exhibit at Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco

Microphones Run This Office

TENANTS in the Haas Building, Los Angeles, Calif., have “electrical stenographers” to serve them by means of a loud speaker system recently installed. These girls, while seated in a central office, greet callers in any office, answer tenants’ telephone calls, write letters, keep books, deliver messages, and keep undesired visitors out.
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I love this. Of course it might be tough to compete when you’re only offering 16/7 telephone service.

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Meet Bob Wilcox

The one-man telephone system for his town’s 370 party-line patrons.

BOB WILCOX, President of Inland Telephone Company of Caledonia, Mo., a tiny hamlet with only 370 party-line customers, can be found almost any day atop a pole fixing a wire. No deskbound executive, Wilcox is also business manager, maintenance man, installation and repair man and part-time switch-board operator. Read the rest of this entry »

Phone Holder Has Bell in Base

A NEW telephone holder, designed to eliminate unsightly bell boxes from walls and desks, contains both bell and wiring connections in its base.

It is constructed entirely of bakelite, is 5-3/4 inches wide and 7-3/4 inches deep. Due to its compact arrangement, it can accommodate all the standard equipment in this small space.

The holder is designed to work either with or without the dial arrangement.

The Perfect Secretary—a Machine
LEAVING his office for a few minutes, M. Keiser, inventor of the televoice, hooks up the gadget shown below with his telephone. Drama ensues. When phone rings, the machine lifts receiver, advises via phonograph record that “Mr. Keiser is not in, but requests that you leave your message, which will be automatically recorded.” Through a dictaphone arrangement, caller’s words are transcribed to wax cylinder, whence they are audibly reproduced for Mr. Keiser at his convenience, as often as he wants to hear them.

Pennies For Wings

The voice of a friend. Reassuring words from father, mother, son or daughter. A hurried call for aid in the night. You cannot set a price on
such things as these.

Yet this is true — telephone service is cheap in this country. No other people get so much service, and such good and courteous service, at such low cost.

BELL TELEPHONE SYSTEM

New Automatic Device Answers Phone, Records Message

PAUL H. ROWE, a Los Angeles sound engineer, has perfected a nearly human robot that answers his telephone perfectly when he is out.

The ringing of the telephone bell starts this ingenious machine operating, and whatever the caller says is received by a microphone and recorded. When Rowe returns, he is able to listen to whatever messages have come in.

WEAVING THE WORLD OF SPEECH

Daily, as upon a magic loom, the world is bound together by telephone. There, in a tapestry of words, is woven the story of many lives and the pattern of countless activities.

In and out of the switchboard move the cords that intertwine the voices of communities and continents. Swiftly, skilfully, the operator picks up the thread of speech and guides it across the miles. Constantly at her finger-tips are your contacts with people near and far.
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Vest-Pocket Telephones

A telephone that can be carried about and used anywhere without connecting wires is a possibility in the near future. Research on the project has been carried on for several years by the Southern California Telephone Company and, according to latest reports, is now nearing practical application.

Spring-Arm Phone Holder Leaves Both Hands Free

Holding the telephone ready for use, a “third hand” of flexible steel leaves both the operator’s hands free to take notes during phone conversations. The spring arm holds the receiver to the ear and can be adjusted to the height and position of the user. The third hand was developed in Australia.

Planning high-speed business

An Advertisement of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company

More than 95% of the telephone calls from one town to another in the Bell System are now on a high-speed basis. This holds whether the call is from New Orleans to Boston or from New York to Oyster Bay.

Even if it is a long call, the operator in many cases now asks you to hold the telephone while the call is put through.
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