TELEPHONE  ATTACHMENTS

These devices were made for the most part to attach to candlestick
telephones although there were exceptions.  Both will be shown on this webpage.
Scroll down to see all the pictures.
 


Mounted on this tapered shaft candlestick is a special locking device, which
was designed to prevent unauthorized use of the phone.  When the padlock
was in place, the phone could not be used in any way.  There were two types of
locking devices, the one pictured and another to fit regular straight shaft
telephones.  This phone is a Stromberg Carlson tapered shaft stick, which can
be seen elsewhere on this website.


This is a very special attachment known as a MutaPhone.  It attaches to the
normal mouthpiece on a candlestick phone by a wire harness held in place by two
springs.  A part of the MutaPhone protrudes into the mouthpiece.  This device, like
the Hush-a-Phone, provided a more private conversation for the person making
the call.  The mouth was held against the cup-shaped device on the left end.

This is an advertising disc that fits on the front of a candlestick faceplate and is held in place by the threaded mouthpiece.  They are very difficult to find as they were distributed, free of charge no doubt, in the twenties and thirties, perhaps even earlier.  They are generally made of celluloid which has a thin cardboard backing for strength.  I have four different types and all are originals in mint condition.  In this case, the faceplate is held in place by a colored "bakelite-like" mouthpiece no doubt made about the same time.  One telephone manufacturer was known to have made these mouthpieces in the same 10 colors in which they offered telephones.

The advertising piece attached to the transmitter mouthpiece of my wall switchboard is my latest acquisition.  The piece is made of celluloid and "snaps on" the rim of the standard mouthpiece.  I  find it interesting that undertakers often combined this service with a variety of other businesses as undertaking may not have been very lucrative in those days.  Mr. Miller's business was located in Clarkson, Nebraska.  Note his phone numbers and the fact that they were most likely on the same party line.  I suspect that casket making was one of the furniture products?

This is a very special address book for candlestick phones.  It is held in place by the mouthpiece
and has spring-loaded pages which pull down and spring back, accordian style.  I assume they were
made as advertising attachments for more than one company, but I have only seen them from this
one blueprint firm.

Shown here are two devices used by the Bell System to display the phone number on a phone with the newer bulldog transmitter and no dial on which to display the number.  Both of these are rather rare items.
 


 
 
 
t This is a very special mouthpiece cover called a Telephonia, a trademark name.  It was first patented in September, 1902.  It attaches behind the mouthpiece and covers the front of the mouthpiece with a hinged cover that contains an absorbent material that is soaked with disinfectant.  The purpose of course was to keep the mp germ-free.  The hinge on the cap cover can be seen just to the right of the engraved Telephonia name.  This is a rare piece indeed.


d

    This is a very rare attachment designed to amplify the voice of the person
 speaking into the phone as well as prevent those around the user from hearing
 the  conversation.  This is known as a MuflaPhone attachment. It is somewhat
 relatedto the  MutaPhone and the Hush-a-Phone items,
and I have not seen another like it.


f
This is a very rare attachment for a candlestick or deskstand phone which provides a way for the phone user to keep track of the minutes and seconds for each phone call. The special forms above the clock face were used to record the calls and their duration. The unit has a start-stop lever as well as reset lever that also winds the clock when it is reset. I have only seen one other of these special clock devices. 


 

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