Pay Telephone, 1918
01
Artifact Overview
By 1905, telephones had been around for almost thirty years. Although most people didn't have phones in their homes, they had become indispensable in certain situations -- business and emergencies. Hotels, grocery stores, and restaurants owners often installed pay telephones in their establishments. This phone features William Gray's mechanism for making a secure pay phone, which was licensed to many phone manufacturers.
Artifact Details
Artifact
Pay telephone
Date Made
1918
Place of Creation
Creator Notes
Made by the Gray Telephone Pay Station Co. of Hartford, Connecticut and Western Electric Company
Location
at Henry Ford Museum in Collections Platform
Object ID
2008.0.14.2
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Wood (Plant material)
Metal
Plastic
Color
Black (Color)
Blue
Brown
Inscriptions
On coin box above slots: 25 / 10 / 5
Below coin slots: DIRECTIONS / Call Central Office as Usual. / Do Noy Deposit Money / Until Told / By Operator / GRAY TELEPHONE PAY STA. CO. HFD. CT. PAT'D FEB. 16, 1909 & AUG. 24, 1909 / [two bell-shaped logos read:] LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE
On receiver: PAT IN USA APRIL 16 1918 / MAY 20 1913 JUNE 3 1913
Embossed on back of box: 317P
Inside coin box door: 8
On magneto: Western Electric / MADE IN U.S.A.
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