JKL Museum of Telephony News and Updates

Trailer Removal

Last Friday, January 15, 2016 was the day of the trailer removal:

The JKL Museum’s step-by-step emergency switching trailer was damaged beyond repair during the Butte forest fire on September 11 2015.

It was the first, and to this date only, item of ‘debris’ that has been removed from the museum site.
It took almost all day to remove the trailer from its location on to the main road. First it needed to be fitted with ‘new’ tires because one of them was burned away completely during the fire and the other one was exposed to extreme heat. It took a lot of maneuvering to get the trailer on the main road because there is no room to turn around on or near the museum grounds.

The following photos give an impression of the whole operation.

Putting on 'new' tires. — Putting on ‘new’ tires.

This truck turned out to be too big to move the trailer.

Moving the trailer up on the asphalt road.

Hoping it doesn't tumble... — Hoping it doesn’t tumble…

The inside of the trailer before the fire.

The 1976 Bell System Telephone Book Cover

This week we received a very generous donation of two large original pencil sketches with a total of thirty vignettes by Stanley Meltzoff (1917-2006). The artwork, created for the 1976 Bell System telephone directory cover, was inspired by a piece known as the Gossips by Norman Rockwell.
Stanley Meltzhoff’s work has appeared in Saturday Evening Post, Life, Scientific American, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.

We are very excited about this donation. It’s a wonderful piece of telephone history.
In the art work, various characters from American history were depicted on the 1976 telephone book cover, each talking on one of the various types of telephones that were designed since Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone.
The cover commemorates the 200th birthday of the United States and the 100th anniversary of the telephone. It appeared on more than 184 million Bell System telephone directory covers throughout the U.S.

Early Touch Tone dial

Today we discovered this early Touch Tone dial, dated March 1966.
It is mounted in a Western Electric card dialer which has seen better days.
Can you spot what makes it special?

Early Touch Tone dial

THANK YOU!

Thank You collector community and friends of the JKL Museum. The outpouring of support we have received in this difficult time has been overwhelming. It was a big loss for us and for telephone history and we are still reeling from it. We are in the process of answering all your emails and messages, a very large task for our volunteers and staff.

As plans for the future of the JKL Museum unfold, we will keep you informed.

Your support is appreciated and valued by all of us.

John K. La Rue

JKL Museum – Fire Update

JKL Museum – Fire Update 09/17

It has only been 6 days since the Butte forest fire destroyed the American Museum of Telephony aka the JKL Museum of Telephony.

The site is still smoking and fire crews were still putting out hot spots today.

It is our intention to rebuild the museum and this involves lots of careful planning which will take some time.

In the mean time we would like to thank everyone for their ongoing support and please check our homepage at http://jklmuseum.com/ to see how you can help the JKL Museum of Telephony.

JKL Museum 2

The JKL Museum of Telephony wants and needs your help and assistance in restoring the JKL Museum for the benefit of all who are interested in the preservation of telephone history.

The JKL Museum was destroyed by the northern California Butte fire on September 11, 2105. A major loss of telephone history. After the initial shock wore off, museum management decided that the JKL Museum will be rebuilt! It is a decision that has heartened and emboldened the volunteers and contributors who made the museum what it was, and we are inviting you and your friends to help us make this happen. We believe it can once again be the very best resource and repository of antique telephone equipment, advertising, library material, real working telephone switching systems, and all else telephone. We are looking to replace these losses through donations of individual items or the donation of collections that current owners would like to see become a part of the new museum. We are seeking quality items to replace those lost in the fire. Our not-for-profit museum’s official name is the American Museum of Telephony. The museum is a 501 (c) (3) organization, and all donations of any kind are tax deductible. We stand ready to negotiate the donation process with any who wish to help us in our efforts to bring to life the JKL-2 Museum. Those who wish to assist in other ways may wish to help us purchase some of the assets that otherwise might not be available. Your time and expertise would also be a way for you to help us reach our goals.

For contact information please see our webpage at http://jklmuseum.com/

Help rebuid the JKL Museum 2

Museum Future

The American Museum of Telephony aka JKL Museum of Telephony was destroyed in a fire but we plan to rebuild something.
We do not yet know how, where or when but the JKL Museum of Telephony aka American Museum of Telephony is here to stay.

We hope to have more news soon.

JKL Museum lost in fire

The JKL Museum / American Museum of Telephony and surrounding residences were lost to fire last night (September 10 2015).

The community of Mountain Ranch CA where the museum was located may also be affected. We were told by firefighters that the museum burned to the ground. Currently no one can get into the area. The fire is called the Butte fire. As soon as we have more news we will post it on our website: http://jklmuseum.com

The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania sign

Today several signs were mounted in and outside of the museum. Something interesting was discovered while mounting a Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania sign.

The old 1964 Bell System logo was covered with the 1969 Bell System logo. The replacement 1969 Bell System logo has now been mounted above the sign. You can see the mounting holes in the sign were the replacement logo was mounted. It must have been a lot cheaper to create covers for the old logo than create more signs.

The sign is a very heavy one that has been cast in bronze.

The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania sign

Western Electric PicturePhone Model II

We thought you might enjoy this photo of the Western Electric PicturePhone Model II:

WE_Picturephones_Mod_II — Western Electric PicturePhone Model II (June 1970)

“PICTUREPHONE® sets come rolling along conveyor belt toward final packaging at Western Electric’s Indianapolis plant. Most of Western Electric’s 19 plants funnel parts to Indianapolis for final assembly in preparation for the inaugural of PICTUREPHONE service on July 1 in Pittsburgh by the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.”

For more information about the Western Electric Picturesphones see:

http://www.beatriceco.com/bti/porticus/bell/telephones-picturephone.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videophone
http://www.corp.att.com/attlabs/reputation/timeline/70picture.html
http://long-lines.net/tech-equip/Picturephone/BLR0569/picturephone.pdf
PDF of the May 1969 Bell Labs Record about the Western Electric PicturePhone Model II

GPO (BT) Vision of the Future