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Virtual museum

LOCAL BATTERY-OPERATED TELEPHONE

  • Item owner - FNM

  • Category - FNM Collection

  • Inventory - 0216

  • Author -

  • Dimensions - 28x21x14 cm

  • Dating - 1935-1950

Wooden box incorporating: rotating hand-crank on the right side; receiver and phone on the left side; on the front, pushbutton, two bells, and plate indicating the number of times to push the button to communicate with nearby telephones. Contains electrical circuits and a current generator operated by the hand-crank.
Installed in a railway station or crossing keeper’s booth, it was used to communicate with similar devices located nearby.
The nearby device was identified by a dot (brief pressure on the button) or dash (longer pressure) or a combination of dots and dashes. The caller pushed the button and then raised the telephone to communicate with only the specific apparatus called. If there was no power, the hand-crank could be turned to provide enough power for the short distance of the call.