October 23, 1909 - Rensselaer Home Telephones

100 Years Ago: From The Rensselaer Eagle [NY 41 Rensselaer 93-32173].

RENSSELAER HOME TELEPHONES WILL BE WORKING ON MONDAY

CABLES ARE BEING TESTED AND FOUND THUS FAR TO WORK SATISFACTORILY

More Than 200 Telephones Have Been Installed Thus Far and More Will Be Connected Up as Fast as Men Can Do The Work

The first 200 Home telephones have been installed in the city and today are being connected so that by Monday of next week they will be in good working order. ... The advent of the new telephone system has been awaited with no little interest by a number of business men of the city who believe that the new company will give good service at a low cost.

Rensselaer has hundreds of railroad men who are usually called on the telephone. They will be enabled to install the new independent 'phone at a small cost per month and are assured of being called when needed.

The cable that was recently strung across the river is the largest submarine construction of its kind in this section of the country. It carries 300 pairs of wires which will be more than sufficient to handle the increased business of the company for a long time to come.
...
One end of the big switch board in the central office in Albany has been reserved for the use of the Rensselaer business. ... When you pick up your receiver in this city and ask for a party in Albany you will get a much quicker response than if you were first obliged to ask for the number from a local operator and she in turn transmits it to Albany to another operator.

The telephones in use are of the well known Dean make which are manufactured at Elyria, O. ... The company proposes to have a Rensselaer directory of its own and to give Rensselaer a place on the telephone map.

There are some clues to the technology in this article, but not enough. Telephone systems in 1909 could either be "magneto" or "common battery", and Dean Electric Co. of Elyria, OH (one of the largest manufacturers) made equipment for both. I can't determine which system Albany had, to know which equipment was installed in Rensselaer.

Magneto systems were rung by turning a crank on the phone, generating a voltage to ring the switchboard operator (and all the other phones on that circuit of the party line). A big battery on each customer's phone provided power for transmitting the voice. (See April 1913, Popular Mechanics, "Practical Telephony - Part I"). You can see a Dean Electric 1908 mageneto wall phone at TelephoneArchive.com.

Common Battery systems were more modern, easier to install and cheaper to maintain. (Albany Home Telephone's central exchange may have pre-dated adoption of the common battery systems.) The customer's set didn't need a bulky magneto generator to ring, or a big battery to talk, since the power was supplied from the central office. This allowed for smaller wall phone cabinets and slim "candlestick" desk sets like these.










In 1905, Dean Electric filed a patent for a Party Line Telephone System (Patent 842,772) with selective signaling, an innovation which would ring only the intended party's phone. This must have made listening in on your neighbors' conversations a bit more challenging...

On the party line, 1917
Billy Murray (Vocalist), Jack Mahoney (lyricist), Percy Wenrich (composer)
Listen | Download MP3 (#3246) | Download Sheet Music PDF

When a girl says "Bill, I love you so," And your wife's voice says "Is that you, Joe?" Then it's fifty fifty, boy, you know,
When you're talking on the party line.

October 1909 - New York Telephone Ads

100 Years Ago: From The Rensselaer Eagle [NY 41 Rensselaer 93-32173].

New York Telephone was advertising heavily in the Rensselaer Eagle throughout the Fall of 1909, as the competing Rensselaer Home Telephone service was about to become active. These ads were part of AT&T's strategy to publicize the Bell System's universal service as an institution of American Life [see Bell System History - Year of Decision]. The ads emphasized the benefits of owning a Bell System phone, from ordering coal to finding a fourth for playing bridge. (Click these to enlarge - my favorite is the plumbing emergency...)










The telephone industry in 1909 was an open competition, since the second of Bell's key telephone patents had expired in 1894, allowing independent phone companies to flourish. AT&T's A Brief History: Origins says that over 6,000 independent phone companies had been established by 1904 - but their systems didn't connect, so companies competed on "network effect" - how many people you could reach on their system.

Here's the Hudson River Telephone Co.'s ad from the Directory for the year 1907 of the cities of Albany and Rensselaer.

Rensselaer Eagle ads for Albany businesses would often say "both phones" to indicate they had a Hudson River Telephone number and an Albany Home Telephone number.

I believe that by October 1909, the Hudson River Telephone Company provided Rensselaerites access to the Bell System. [In September 1909, the Central New York Telephone and Telegraph Company had merged into New York Telephone, bringing with it the property and franchises of the Hudson River Telephone Company, which Central had purchased in March 1909 - reference Annual report of the Public Service Commission, Second District, Volume 3].

Oct. 9, 1909:
DURING THE LONG SCHOOL SEASON
A schoolhouse without a telephone would seem strangely isolated in these days of constant communication.
Parents know that the school is always within call and this knowledge gives them a sense of security and comfort. The Bell Telephone carries the same confidence into all the relations of life. Your friends are brought within reach of your voice by the Universal Service of the Bell System.

Oct. 30, 1909:
KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH HOME
It is wonderful how much satisfaction can be obtained from a talk over the Bell Telephone.
A letter carries words, but the Bell Service has been brought up to such a point of perfection that the modulations of the voice are clearly heard. The cheery tones show that the talker is well and in good spirits. The call may come from a suburban village or a distant city, but within the limits of the carrying power of the voice the Bell System carries the tone as well.

Nov. 13, 1909:
ALL HOUSEHOLD EMERGENCIES
An hour saved in summoning the plumber by telephone may save the price of several years of service.
It certainly saves a lot of discomfort and worry. The Bell Telephone keeps the household in constant touch with all the resources of civilization and is instantly available in any emergency. It also keeps the household in constant touch with the broader outside world by means of the Long Distance Service of the Bell system.

July 24, 1909 - Home Telephone

100 Years Ago: From The Rensselaer Eagle [NY 41 Rensselaer 93-32173].

NEW TELEPHONE SERVICE WILL BE READY NEXT MONTH

FIRST OF THE PHONES WILL BE WORKING BY THAT TIME

Work on the Submarine Cable Will Soon be Started - - Rensselaer to Have a Directory

The first of the new telephones to be installed by the Rensselaer Home Telephone Company will be working by the middle of August it is expected, and all the 'phones will be doing business by the first of September. Good progress has been made with the work and although much remains to be done, yet an official of the company stated yesterday that in his opinion the first service would by ready by next month.

TO HAVE A DIRECTORY

It will be gratifying to Rensselaerites to know that they are to be recognized in the telephone world, for as soon as the new lines are ready, a Rensselaer directory will be issued.

There will be no central office in the city, but the lines will be carried through a submarine cable to a part of the company's big switchboard in Albany and there the connections will be made. This will provide an instantaneous service which will certainly be appreciated.
...
SOME FINE POLES

The poles are now all set but with a few exceptions and the work of laying the cables on these poles is coming along nicely. But little wire will be seen as there will be little of it, the wires being carried in the cables that reach from pole to pole. The company proposes to make its poles an ornament for they will be provided with iron steps and later on will be painted. This will make other poles look shabby in comparison.
...

The American Telephone Journal, 07/25/1903, COMEDIAN ADVERTISES TELEPHONICALLY

An enterprising comedian recently appeared at short notice in Onondaga a small town in Michigan where there was no newspaper to announce him. He had the operator at the telephone exchange call up every telephone subscriber and played to a crowded house.

April 10, 1909 - Telephone Service

100 Years Ago: From The Rensselaer Eagle [NY 41 Rensselaer 93-32173].

WORK BEGINS MONDAY

Home Telephone Co. Will Begin Setting Poles at That Time

The Home Telephone Co. will begin setting its poles in Rensselaer on Monday and the work will be hurried along to completion. It will take several weeks to get all the poles in position, and then a big gang of line-men will commence stringing the wires. The cables and conduits will arrive in due season and will be installed as soon as possible.

Every day the company is receiving voluntary offers of patrons who wish to use its service as soon as it is ready for the public. Thus far nearly 300 [?] subscribers have been taken [?] and many more will follow when the lines are in operation.

It has not yet been decided whether there will be a "central" office located in Rensselaer or not. Officials of the company say it will expedite the installation of the local service to have a direct connection with the Albany "central" office and it will also mean an even quicker service. This would be accomplished by the laying of a big cable under the river. The company now has its request before the War department, and as soon as a determination is reached at that department the matter will be definitely decided.

The prospects for the new company are exceedingly bright.