What's inside a 113 year old Hand Crank Telephone?

Can I make a Microsoft Teams call on this old phone? Why yes! In this video, we explore and examine the inside of an antique Montgomery Ward Diamond Bridging Telephone! We'll examine the phone's components, record from the microphone, and experiment with the magneto generator and ringer.

This 113-year-old phone was given to me by a viewer. Would it actually work if completely restored and connected to a landline today? I don't know, and don't have a landline anymore, but a VOIP-based adapter. My 1955 telephone (featured in another video) would work for talking, just not dialing since it was not touch tone. Of course, this phone has no dialing capability whatsoever... Could it still work today? Maybe a phone expert could weigh in on this in the comments...

00:00 - Intro
00:52 - Missing parts
01:05 - Montgomery Ward building
01:48 - A look inside the cabinet
02:54 - Microphone tear down and audio sample
03:49 - Finding a replica receiver
05:20 - The magneto generator
06:17 - The ringer and bells
08:14 - The Continuum Transfunctioner
08:38 - Conclusion

Some of the sites referenced included:
1. telephonecollections.info - Lots of great documents here!
2. oldphoneworks.com. - This is where I bought the replica receiver.

Supplemental info: The following episode of Little House on the Prairie shows one of these hand cranked phones in action. I vaguely remember seeing this as a child, and the busybody operator was annoying. But technically it looks pretty accurate, with the self-installed wires and so forth:    • Season 6 Episode 12 Crossed Connectio...  

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