Reviews of the 2nd Edition
Excerpts
- Dr. Meyer's new edition of Old Time Telephones! is a welcome addition to the
Museum of Independent Telephony's library. The first edition of this comprehensive
reference book has been a valuable research tool for our staff. We extend our thanks
to Dr. Meyer for providing the telephony community with this reliable reference source.
Robin Black, Director
The Museum of Independent Telephony, Abilene, KS
- Wow, what an improvement over the first edition that I bought about ten years ago.
Nice layout, good large illustrations of various telephones, ringers, diagrams etc.
It was even easy for me, a relatively non-electrical type person, to understand the diagrams.
Shoot, I even figured out primary and secondary coils by reading the section on "Principles
of the Western Electric Booster Circuit!!!"
Chuck Eby
Webmaster for Antique Telephone Collectors Association
ATCA Newsletter, February 2006
- Dr. Meyer out does himself with his Second edition of Old-Time
Telephones. He has expanded the information provided in the first
reference and added much new data in twenty-two chapters. He explains
the concepts and early developments of the ninetieth century pioneers
who developed telegraph systems prior to the invention of the
telephone. He has dissected and compares telephone circuits of major
manufactures of the last century up to and including the present times.
Dr. Meyer has written all this in simple language anyone can
understand. Old Time Telephones 2nd Edition has received some great
reviews from numerous telephone collectors who have worked in the
industry and collected telephones, more than thirty years. This book is
a valuable reference of technical information for anyone interested in
telephone communications past and present. Enjoy!!
Rick Saint, Houston Texas
Amazon.com Customer Review
- Ralph Meyer's book is the "Bible" for information on old telephones. In my humble opinion,
it is a landmark publication that encapsulates the important schematics and specifications for
major "pioneer" telephone brands such as Western Electric, Automatic Electric, Kellogg Switchboard
& Supply, and Stromberg-Carlson. I heartily recommend this book for novices and professionals
alike.
Steve Hilsz, Owner
VTS Industrial Company, Salome, AZ
Reviews of the 1st Edition
Excerpts
- Mr. Meyer's book is a stunning achievement in research, analysis,
exposition, and design.
Robert V. Bruce
Pulitzer Prize in History and Author of Bell: Alexander Graham
Bell and the Conquest of Solitude
Madbury, NH
- Wow! I received your book the day before yesterday, and then
spent yesterday reading every word. Your book is fantastic! It
is clearly written and packed with hard-to-find, valuable
information. The diagrams are easy to follow and the pictures
illuminating and uncluttered. This is the definitive work and
vital to the preservation and restoration of our technological
heritage.
Roger Clery, Assoc. Professor Telecommunications
Roosevelt University
Chicago, IL
- The A.T.C.A. Board of Directors has unanimously endorsed your
book, "Old Time Telephones! Technology, Restoration and Repair."
Your book is recognized as an authoritative source of technical
information on the developing telephone.
Daniel Caldon, Board Chairman
Antique Telephone Collectors Association
San Luis Obispo, CA
- Congratulations on your excellent illustrated, informative and
documented book -- "Old Time Telephones." As a historian for
Algonquin Council, Toronto Life Members Club and Chapter 74, of
the Telephone Pioneers of America, I found that the book contains
more information on the evolution of the telephone than any of
the many books that I have read. Thanks for the memories.
Frank Lutka
Bell Canada, retired
Etobicoke, Ontario
- [Old-Time Telephones] will delight the more
technically-minded reader. And Meyer's ability to translate a tangle of
wires, magnets, switches and electricity into something that is
understandible, uncluttered, concise and interesting will appeal to
(and enlighten) the rest of us.
Elicia Magruder, National Administrator
Review in ITPA Pioneer (Independent Telephone Pioneer Association)
Washington, DC
- Dr. Meyer's research is gathered from primary sources of the
highest scholarship. The book is exceedingly compact and written
with a tightness which belies the vast amount of useful
information it contains. (In scientific fields, this is a
quality called "elegance.")
Anonymous former PacTel employee
Review in Singing Wires (Telephone Collectors International)
Algonquin, IL
- This is a great book! Over the last 30 years or so, I have
collected maybe half a dozen old phones. But as far as knowing
what they were, when they were manufactured, and how they were
supposed to be hooked up, I was on my own. This book has changed
all that.
Charles Keith
Engineering Productivity Group, Hewlett-Packard Co.
San Diego, CA
- After reading it I'm not surprised that it took you five years to
complete it. Your book finally provides me with an authoritative
work I can consult to referring to the sets that Dreyfuss worked
on and the contemporary competitors.
Russell Flinchum, Guest Curator
Smithsonian Institution, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
New York, NY
- This well-illustrated account will bring back many memories of
the instruments which have become a vital part of our lives while
the ingenious electric circuits and devices will appeal to the
more technically minded reader.
Philip N. French
Review in Sci-Tech News (Special Libraries Association)
Washington, DC
- I read about 50 per cent of your book and I need to tell you that
your presentation of history, design, and circuitry is simply
delightful. I especially like the way you simplified the
circuitry by "translating" it into standard drawings that are
concise and easily understandable. I will write you as soon as I
complete the book, which will become a treasured part of my
permanent reference library.
Steve Hilsz, Owner
VTS Industrial Company
Salome, AZ
- I found his book fascinating: I didn't realize that Alexander
Graham Bell got his telephone to work two months after his patent
application had been submitted and three days after the patent
had been issued. This beautifully designed book is full of
excellent photographs of classic antique telephones and their
components. Ralph Meyer has given us a valuable book that covers
historical information on telephones, their design and the repair
and restoration of antiques.
William von Alven, Editor
Review in The Billboard (Federal Communications Commission)
Washington, DC
- As the former President of the Elisha Gray Historical Society, I
have more than a cursory interest in his life and the invention
of the telephone. Imagine my surprise to learn from your book,
that in 1975, David Hounshell published his piece on "Elisha Gray
and the Telephone."
Charles Sangerman
Highland Park, IL
- Ralph Meyer takes you inside the telephone instrument and shows
you how all the different components have evolved over the years,
and how this evolution has in many ways determined the design of
the instruments themselves. As someone who works with telephony
every day, I am frequently reminded that what seems matter-of-fact to me is totally foreign to
someone outside the industry.
That's what makes this book so valuable. The author has
researched and compiled mounds of data surrounding the technical
development of the telephone, and presents it in such a way that
anyone can understand it.
Jon Kolger
Review in ATCA Newsletter (Antique Telephone Collectors Association)
New Castle, IN
- It is clear concise and so worded that you don't have to be an
engineer to understand it. Probably the best thing I could say
is I would have to go through about 10 books here in the library
to get the information you have amassed in one. I know that I
will use it often when I am writing to people to answer a
research question.
Peg Chronister, Curator
The Museum of Independent Telephony
Abilene, KS
