Another
in my collection of electrical antiques, this phone was purchased from
Ebay in 2003. The 317 was made by Western Electric. Per the site
antiquephonehistory.com, this was produced starting in 1916.
The
phone did not have the front writing shelf when I bought it. I
found one later and added it. The interesting part of this phone is
that it has a magneto to generate the ring voltage for the called
party. Cranking the handle on the right spins the magneto and
rings the local bells also. You can then pick up the receiver on
the left and listen to the conversation.
Unexpectedly,
the phone also came with two large dry cells (batteries). I
hooked it to my phone system and the electronic parts work for a two
way conversation.
Schematic Diagram for this phoneOther Antiques:
Antique RCA RadioVintage Analog Voltmeter