Vigo County Historical Society

Telephone has evolved over time

In 1877 Alexander Graham Bell installed the first telephone to be made available commercially. His patent ran out in 1894 and other manufacturers jumped into the business.

Even before the patents expired, there was competition to the phone products Bell developed. An 1878 Williams "coffin" telephone hung on a wall and was the first telephone to have separate parts for talking and listening. A crank spun on the inside machinery produced power to ring a bell at the operator’s station.

The dial became a feature in 1896. A Kansas City funeral director, Alman B. Strowger, thought telephone operators were being bribed to switch his customers’ calls to his competitors. So he perfected a direct-dialing system to bypass the exchange. It was manufactured by Automatic Electric Co.

A prized dial telephone in 1905 has an 11th finger hole which rang the long distance operator.

Manufacturers also produced a type of cabinet telephone, designed for public places such as hotel lobbies.

During the 1918 influenza epidemic an easily sterilized mouthpiece was added to a desktop Western Electric telephone. The hard rubber mouthpieces are more common. The stand-up desk sets, called candlesticks, were used in homes and offices for two generations.

Advertised in a 1925 Montgomery Ward catalog was the popular wall-type telephone for $13.95. A notice reads: "A telephone will save you much time and many steps every day. Install one on your neighborhood line and handle your business quickly!"

European manufacturers produced many ornamental telephones and dial instruments before 1900 and these were imported to the United States in the late 1900s.

Most collectors seek the standup desk model phones or the wall-hung models. Many desire the phones for display and seek the oddities.

The telephones pictured are from the museum’s collection on display on the lower floor. Many will remember using the dial phone.