This section includes the earliest phones from the Antwerp factory, including those from when it was renamed Western Electric.
This model No 40047 is known as the "Eiffel Tower" in Australia because of the leg arrangement. It was probably produced as a response to Ericsson's Skeletal phone, but was not as successful. It was widely exported and was used by a number of Government departments in Australia.
Two handsets were available - the plain model on the phone at left and the ornate model shown at right. The handset seems to have been the phone's weak point, and many phones are found with Ericsson handsets. The transmitter and reciver shells were polished aluminium in most cases.
Two cradles also seem to have been available, according to catalog illustrations. The one at left is the one mostly seen.
The phone was still in the British Western Electric catalog in the 1920s.
The first desk phone was simply a small wall box mounted on a flat base, with
a handle to slide it around the desk. An excellent photo was available on a Swiss
museum site, but the site is no longer available. If you know the new site details,
please let me know.
This model, the "Turret" phone, is another early desk phone that seems to have mostly been sold in Europe.
L to R:
Berliner transmitter
Solid Back transmitter
Handset conversion for the National Telephone Company
Delville transmitter
Ericsson refurbishment with Ericsson transmitter and top bells.
Typical 2- and 3-box wall phones.
L to R:
Model 5723 with later Hunnings transmitter fitted into the old Blake box
Model 5728 with Hunnings built into the top box, making a 2-box phone
Model 5730 with inset Delville, an improved Hunnings
Model 5730B , a "long distance" phone with room for extra batteries.
More large wall phones:
L to R:
Model 5722 with Hunnings transmitter in Blake box
Original 3-box model with Blake transmitter
Model 5731 with early handset (it looks like an Ericsson but the illustration is from a Western Electric catalog)
Model 5722 for KTAS, with Ericsson refurbished version.
Bell Desk Phones
Bell 3-box Wall Phones
Western Electric Wall Phones
Early Bell & Western Electric Phones
Bell Wall Phones
Consolidated Phones
History