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Doerr Mitchell Electrical Co. Telephone
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| Accession #: | 2962.586 |
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| Title: | Doerr Mitchell Electrical Co. Telephone |
| Object Type: | Telephone |
| Participants: | |
| Physical Description: | The telephone is attached to an oak box and has a 3.25" black mouthpiece, a black handled crank, two metal bells, and a metal handset holder. There are two markers plates on the face of the phone one above the bells and one on the mouthpiece (see inscription field for more information). |
| Description: | Communication advancements were among the nation's major technological changes of the early 20th century. Samuel Morse's telegraph and its link with Western Union expanded rapidly after 1850 and remained a critical communication system, but Alexander Graham Bell's telephone (1876) would change the way of life for families and businesspeople. C.B. Hopkins is credited with installing one of the Inland Northwest's first telephone toll lines between Colfax and Almota on the Snake River for his Colfax newspaper in 1884. By 1886, the telephone system reached principle towns in the Palouse County in the vicinity of Colfax, including Spokane and Walla Walla and within two years many mining camps in the region could communicate by phone. In October, 1893, the second longest telephone connection in the world linked Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, and Spokane, but until 1900 few homeowners could afford telephones. Source: RESC 452 "Thomas H. Elsom: Telephone Pioneer" By: Dean Ladd. MAC Archives. |
| Category: | History |
| Dimensions: |
Object H x W x D 8 x 7 x 6 1/4"
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| Materials/Techniques: |
metal (Material)
oak (Material)
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| Marks/Inscription: |
Manufactured for THE DOERR MITCHELL ELEC. CO. SPOKANE, WASH.
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| Credit Line: | Museum Transfer, Fort Wright Historical Museum, 1983 |
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https://www.northwestmuseum.org/collections