Viaduct Manufacturing Co. Tapered Shaft Desk Set

This is a Viaduct tapered shaft on a large multi-tiered wooden base with a 10 button extension system. Viaduct transmitters are a unique shape, so you can't mistake them. This telephone has an unusual texture or finish on the brass that looks original to the phone. Obviously the original nickel is gone but the underlying texture is so uniform it probably was put on that way at the factory. The large wooden base plate is there as well as the original coil and terminal strip. Complete with a Viaduct long pole oustide terminal receiver, which is a unique size, longer than a pony receiver and shorter than a traditional long pole receiver. Viaduct Manufacturing Company of Baltimore, Maryland, was founded in 1883 when it took over and continued the business of Davis & Watts, an Electrical Goods manufacturer. Viaduct made "Everything Electrical, but its specialties were Telephones, Magneto Bells, District Messenger Call Boxes, Student's Telegraph Outfits, Electric Lights and American District Supplies of all kinds." The manufacturing plant sat very near the relay station of the B & O Railroad. The Railroad had built a brick viaduct over a deep ravine to support the railroad tracks and that's how the Viaduct Manufacturing Company got its name.