Early French S.I.T. Phone

S.I.T.S.I.T.Société Industrielle des Téléphones, created in December 1893 when the Société Générale des Téléphones merged with the Menier cable and rubber factories. SIT inherited a dominant portfolio of telephone patents including those of Gower, Edison, Blake, and Ader, and operated factories in Paris, Levallois-Perret, Bezons, and Calais. The company produced the iconic "Violon" mahogany wall telephone around 1903 and fabricated the 1898 French Transatlantic Telegraph Cable from Brest to Cape Cod — at 3,174 nautical miles, the longest submarine cable of its era. Acquired by Compagnie Générale d'Électricité in 1936, SIT's assets evolved through CIT and CIT-Alcatel into what is today part of Nokia. · 1890s
Categories: wood, French
Early French S.I.T. Phone

About This Phone

This phone was likely manufactured by S.I.T. (Société Industrielle des Téléphones), which was the primary manufacturer for the French government at the time. In the 1890s, the French government began a strict "standardization" process. They contracted private companies like S.I.T., Marti, and Mildé to build phones to a specific government blueprint. Because they were built to a "State" design, the manufacturers often didn't put their own names on the front—instead, you'd just find the PTT logo or a serial number.