"Ericsson Telephones" graciously submitted by Ric Havyatt

An historic overview of the company.


L.M.Ericsson & Co. conducted a business in Stockholm, Sweden, well before the introduction of telephones. This business was involved with telegraph equipment, and it was a logical step to take up the manufacture of telephones shortly after Alexander Bell patented the telephone in 1876.
Their instruments were of a high standard and were supplied initially to European countries and ultimately to many other countries around the world. The following instruments are of particular interest, mainly because of their sophistication at such an early stage of telephone development.

AC100

Desk set model AC100.


Introduced in1884 and popularly known as the "swivel transmitter" desk telephone. It included a magneto, a transmitter that could be rotated to prevent carbon granule packing, a separate receiver and a pair of bell gongs. The legs were magnetised to provide the magnetic field for the generator and were adorned with intricate transfers. Very few have survived in Australia mainly because this was the prototype for the next phone in this set of three.

Pick the transmitter, receiver or magneto to see drawings from Herbert and Proctor, Vol 1, 1932.

Desk set, model AC120.


First appeared in 1892 and continued in production up to at least 1926 - a total of 34 years! Because of its method of construction it was generally known as the "skeletal" phone and remains today as probably the most elegant phone ever manufactured. It had similar facilities to the AC100, but featured a handset with transmitter and receiver attached to a comfortable hand grip. It was mainly used by government instrumentalities. One skeletal Ericsson in use as an extension was taken out of service in Tasmania as late as 1978. A very popular model with telephone collectors.

AC120
AC210

Desk set, model AC210.


This is an instrument that most collectors would love to have in their collections. It was initially manufactured in 1893 and was still listed in Ericsson catalogues in 1912 and probably later. The shape of the instrument gives it its' popular name of "biscuit barrel" Ericsson. The round body is embellished with an ornate transfer of greens and yellow with black outlining. It has the same facilities as the other two phones, but only a small magneto, which made it unsuitable for main line work. It was regarded as a status symbol for company executives and government officials. It is now a very rare instrument.

 
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