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Larry and Carole
        Meeker
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Internet
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www.AntiqBuyer.com


LCM@AntiqBuyer.com

 

530-620-7019

Purveyors and Dealers of American Patented & Mechanical Antiques
 

 

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Early Telephones and Telegraph Related Antiques

We can help sell your Antique Telephones, Antique Office Equipment and Related Antiques!!

I deal in and sell vintage telephones, antique telegraph keys, and phone5.jpg (20573 bytes)other collectible telegraphy devices.   The types of antique telephones and vintage telegraph devices I am interested in date from the mid 1800's up through about 1920 or so.  

Please look other specific related pages and the general  Wanted to Buy Page on this site to see a general outline of the other sorts of tool & technology related antiques that we deal in. 

Early telephones are becoming very difficult to find.  Below are some examples of the types and styles of telephones that we sell.  The first picture is of a typical Candlestick style phone that is often seen for sale in antique shops and at antique shows.  This one is a Kellogg and is a bit differenphone4.jpg (24867 bytes)t because of the nickel plating instead of being all black as the most common antique telephones of this style are.  In this style of phone I am particularly interested in varieties with different shaped bases or handles, those with dials or buttons, or old telephones where the handset has different shapes from the standard round tube seen here.  I am also interested in buying just the handsets, and especially those with two external terminals to attach the individual wires to instead of the single hole for one wrapped wire as on the phone above.

This next picture to the right is also of a Kellogg telephone that is styled like pay_phone2.jpg (20261 bytes)many foreign telephones that you  see from France, Germany, and parts of Eastern Europe.  I am buying all early American phones from the well known makers such as Kellogg and Western Electric, to some of the lesser known models by manufacturers such as Stromberg Carlson, Westinghouse, American Bell, Ericsson and a host of others.

We are also interested in early pay phones like the one pictured on the left.  This style of phone is  probably from the 20's or so and these also come in an array of different styles and designs by different makers andphone3.jpg (31757 bytes) I would be interested in any pay phone from this era or before.  I am also interested in antique wooden wall mount telephones in nice original condition, the nicer and earlier the better.  phone2.jpg (19512 bytes)

 

Please contact me at  LCM@AntiqBuyer.com  with as many details as you can provide about your phone.  I am going to need to see a picture to be able to make a decision as to whether it is of interest or not. 

Antique Telegraph Keys & Telegraphy Related Antiques Wanted

Although the ideas for, and some implementation of the ideas behind telegraphy were being experimented with and developed elsewhere and earlier, Samuel Morse is given credit for being the first American to successfully utilize the idea in America in 1838. 

The idea was accepted and spread.  The first trans-Atlantic cable was laid in the 1860's and wires had already been laid cross country.  It was possible to communicate with people across far reaches, with the touch of a button. 

The design changes and improvements made to the "button"  or telegraph key are what I am interested in.  The theory is pretty simple.  You send Morse Code over the wires by opening and closing an electric circuit.  But like most ideas there was room for improvement and new designs, and the process is still continuing.  In a sense email is just the latest type of telegraphy, but my interest stops a bit short of your last keyboard, and are more focused on devices used to send Morse code. 

Telegraphy or antique telegraph keys come in many shapes and sizes, and there are a lot of early examples that have a great look and sense of design beyond the utilitarian thought of just interrupting the electrical circuit for an instant. 

Very early keys went through a series of design changes to meet the emerging technology, but given it was pretty simply just turning on and off a circuit, the design changes came to focus or exhibit aspects of design and form for the aesthetic touch.  Many early keys are known as Hump-backs or camel-backs and have a wonderfully graceful form that was lost with the later introduction of low profile keys that used flat stock for the bar that many keys from after 1900 have. 

Early telegraph keys usually were offered on wooden bases, but some had nicely decorated cast iron ones like the one just above.  Another interesting design are what are known as travel keys.  These came in small wooden, plastic or leatherette cases and could be taken on trips or the train which usually followed the wires or visa-versa.  

After that most changes had to do withy speed and trying increase it, and that is what designs like the Vibro-Plex and other modern speed keys are all about.   I am looking to buy almost any style of antique telegraph keys or Morse Code senders as they are also known.   Later keys like the Vibro-Plex or AtoZ or Electro-key from Fresno are all much later keys, but they have a place in the scheme of things and their design has changed considerably since their introduction.

If you have antique telephones or telegraph related antiques like telegraph keys that you want to sell, please contact us at LCM@AntiqBuyer.com with complete details and any written information that is on them, a picture of them if you can, and we will get back to you ASAP

 


Examples of Select Antique Telegraph Keys & Telephones  Previously Sold

The above are an example of the caliber, condition and quality of telephones and Telegraphy related antiques that I am primarily interested in buying. 

If you have antique phones, telegraph keys or other early electrical devices similar to those that you see on this page that you want to sell,  please contact us at LCM@AntiqBuyer.com providing me with as many details as possible. Thank you!! 

To see examples of similar antiques that I currently have for sale please go to our sister site at www.Patented-Antiques.com.and visit the numerous sale pages you will find there.