Can You Hear Me? Now? :: Off The Hook :: telephone history
Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon
Can You Hear Me? Now? online exhibition of sound communication technology Can You Hear Me? Now? museum exhibition of sound communication artifacts Benton County Historical Society, Philomath, Oregon, USA
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Off the Hook!  
American Electric Telephone, Kokomo, Ind., Hunnings Patent
1980-015.0005

"Three Box" Wall Telephone
American Electric Telephone Company
Patented 1882

The bottom box holds wet cell batteries. The middle box contains the generator and bells. To operate the middle box, one must push a button to wind the generator and press a lever to transmit. The Blake transmitter and Bell hand receiver on the top box are connected by external wiring.

  three box American Electric telephone, profile view

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Off The Hook! telephone history exhibit
"Off the hook", slang
1. A phone that rings too much may be purposely left off the hook.
2. Escape from blame, i.e.-They let me off the hook without paying a fine.
3. Excellent
4. Intense or out of control, but typically in a good or fascinating way. The term is derived from a boxing metaphor - when boxers train on a heavy bag they can knock the bag "off the hook".

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Pioneer Telephone Cooperative
Pioneer Telephone Cooperative
1907 B-R Electrical Telephone Mfg. Co. Kansas City
H14722

Oak Wall Telephone
B-R Electrical Telephone Mfg. Company
1907

The transmitter on this phone reads "Kellogg, Chicago, U.S.A - Pat'd Nov. 26, 1901". Inside the phone is a paper manufacturer's card which details "Instrument No. 18, Assembled by Lesslre, Tested by 32, Date 7/5/07". manufacturer's paper label inside telephone
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Automatic Electric telephone, circa 1920
1980-015.0004

Wall & Desk Telephone
Automatic Electric Company
Circa 1920

Combination wall and desk telephone manufactured by "Automatic Electric Inc." of "Chicago USA." The bracket holds a hand unit stamped "Monophone Reg. US Pat. Off, Patents issued & Pending."
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Western Electric no dial wall telephone
1980-015.0003

Metal Wall Telephone
Western Electric
Circa 1930

Telephones of this era could be purchased with, or without, a dial. The first dial telephone exchange was invented in 1892, however it wasn't until the 1930s that most of the nation's switching equipment was able to use it.
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wooden phone booth
1986-135.0001

Wooden Telephone Booth
Automatic Electric Company
Circa 1945

Wooden outdoor telephone booths were replaced with glass booths during the 1950s.

Clark Kent uses a brown wooden telephone booth to change into his Superman suit in the 1941 cartoon "The Mechanical Monsters."
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U.S. Army Signal Corp telephone
1988-058.0080
Field Telephone
U.S. Army Signal Corp
 U.S. Army Signal Corps field phone inside case Field Telephone case detail
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how to dial a telephone instructions
1992-073.1023

Philomath Telephone Dial instructions
Pioneer Telephone Co-operative
Philomath, Oregon
1954

Pioneer Telephone Co-operative formed in 1951, taking over the Coast Telephone Company's five exchanges, including Philomath. The directions about how to dial a telephone were supplied to all Pioneer Telephone customers.

"On July 31, 1954 at 10:00 P.M. your telephone will be connected to the rest of the world. The following directions should be read carefully, so that you can use and understand your new telephone."
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Monroe Oregon telephone switchboard
1980-016.0006

Switchboard
Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Company

The Monroe Telephone Company purchased this used switchboard from a Yoncalla, Oregon telephone company. The Monroe, Oregon company used it from 1956 through 1958. They replaced it with a dial system on December 20, 1958.
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Ericsson Ericofon rotary dial telephone
1980-015.0001

Rotary Dial Telephone
Ericsson
Circa 1960

Swedish telephone manufacturer Ericsson produced this "Ericofon" in 1956. The rotary dial and hang-up device are hidden in the base of the phone.
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Yellow 1970s wall telephone
1996-111.0003

Plastic Wall Telephone
Western Electric
1977

The Juntunen family of Corvallis used this wall phone in the 1970s.
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red Streamline telephone
2001-116.0001

Streamline Desk Telephone
ITT
Circa 1980

The Benton County Historical Society used this phone in the elevator of the museum from 1980 to 2001.
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yellow Uniden 3100 cordless telephone
1992-001.0005

Cordless Telephone
Uniden

Philomath mayor and pharmacist E.C. Golden used this Uniden 3100 cordless telephone in his Philomath residence. Uniden 3100 cordless telephone
Uniden 3100
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Motherly 2900 cellular telephone
2009-033.0001

Cellular Telephone
Motherly
1992

Everett and Mary Jane Kidder purchased this Motherly 2900 three watt cellular phone to use while travelling in their motor home. The handset of this model SCN2500A phone is labeled as "US West Megaphone".

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