Edison telephone peg switchboard and pegs, 1879

Made:
1879 in London
Early Edison telephone peg switchboard with six pegs Early Edison telephone peg switchboard with six pegs

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Early Edison telephone peg switchboard with six pegs
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Early Edison telephone peg switchboard with six pegs
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Edison telephone peg switchboard with six pegs, made by the Edison Telegraph Company of London Limited, London, England, 1879.

This is an early example of a telephone switchboard. Each board was designed to accommodate 24 subscribers' lines, and required an operator to make the connections between two telephone lines. The switch itself consisted of a set of horizontal bars and a set of vertical bars, insulted from each other. Each telephone line was connected to one of the vertical bars. The operator's telephone was connected at the end of the bar. Pegs were inserted into the crossing points to allow two telephones to be connected.

Details

Category:
Telecommunications
Object Number:
1924-421
Materials:
plastic (unidentified), wood (unidentified), copper (alloy), metal (unknown) and bakelite
Measurements:
overall: 95 mm x 460 mm x 155 mm, 4.22 mm, 4.18 kg
type:
switchboard
credit:
Donated by N Kipping