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Telephone Era in Alberta >>
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Accepted Designs >> Cabinet
Phone
The early cabinet telephone was usually a wall telephone with the
components encased in a wood or metal housing on a wood backing.
Three-box models had an upper box for the bells and the magneto
that powered the ringer circuit, a middle box for the Blake
transmitter (a solid carbon transmitter that relayed sound with more
clarity than past transmitters) and a lower box to hold a wet cell
to power the talking circuit.
Two-box models had the bells and magneto in the upper box and dry
cells in the lower box. Between the two boxes, a transmitter
extended outwards on a metal arm.
Fiddleback styles had the transmitter at the top and the battery
box and bells below, so that the backing was narrower at the top.
Longbox models encased the components in a single box, generally
with the bells and magneto at the top, the transmitter in the
middle, and the batteries at the bottom. A small shelf was added to
allow callers to write down messages.
Copyright © 2004
Heritage Community Foundation and
Telephone Historical Centre All Rights Reserved
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