Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - November 18,1984
By Richard L. Tuttle
Vigo County Historical Society

Wall-mount crank phone earliest in Vigo County

The simple command: "Mr. Watson, come here; I want you!" initiated a revolution in communication that continues 108 years after it was spoken.

Alexander Graham Bell was summoning his assistant to help him clean some battery acid he had spilled on his clothes. The date was March 10, 1876.

June 25 of the same year, Bell introduced the telephone to the public at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The public was ready for this new device that extended the range of the human voice.

(Note: while Bell was doing very well in Philadelphia, Gen. George Armstrong Custer and 200 soldiers fought and lost the Battle of the Little Big Horn. If the general had a telephone, he possibly could have summoned reinforcements.)

The popularity of the telephone grew rapidly. The first commercial exchange was established in New Haven, Conn., Jan. 28, 1878. It used a primitive switchboard that linked 21 subscribers with eight lines.

The exchange in Indianapolis opened in March 1879.

Long Distance calling became a reality in 1884, when a line was laid between Boston and New York. In 1915 both coasts were linked, Europe using transatlantic radio in 1927.

The historical treasure this week is a wall-mounted telephone that was used until 1903 in Prairie Creek. It was manufactured by the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Co., Chicago, Ill.

Kellogg was a major supplier of telephone equipment to independent companies (those not connected with AT&T) and was involved in a scandal when it was revealed the company had been controlled by Bell Telephone in 1902 and 1903.

The telephone on display at the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley was donated to the Vigo County Historical Society by Marcus Scott of Prairie Creek.