Two-Box Tandem c1909

American ElectricAmerican Electric1894–1931Founded in 1894 by P.C. Burns in Kokomo, Indiana, American Electric Telephone Company was among the wave of independent manufacturers that emerged after the Bell patents expired. The company moved to Chicago in 1897 and produced magneto wall phones, potbelly desk sets, candlestick phones, and switchboards for the independent telephone market. Filed for bankruptcy in 1911 but continued operating into the early 1930s, diversifying into radio equipment in the 1920s. A mid-tier independent, substantial enough to produce catalogs through 1929 but smaller than rivals like Kellogg or Stromberg-Carlson.
Categories: wood, American  ·  Contributor/source: Dick Erickson
Two-Box Tandem c1909

About This Phone

Oak two-box "Gibson Girl" tandem with outside terminal receiver and rare Gray number 10 side mount 5-10-25 cent collector (original paint in red, blue and silver). Circa 1909. "Gibson Girl" nickname comes from the tandem's shape's resemblence to the 'Gibson girl' figures drawn by famous turn of the century illustrator Charles Gibson.