MTFCA Forum

Great pics again Tom! Thanks. I love pics that show the telephone poles...that one about third the way down is a big one!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems someone said each insulator is a separate phone line? Or maybe a "party line"? Like to have my memory refreshed!

Better than a Christmas card! Thanks for posting Tom, and a hearty Merry Christmas to you for doing this all year.

There were two insulaters for each line. One for the "Ring" and one for the "Tip". The terms ring and tip came from the jack on the operator's switchboard. The cord she plugged in had a ring which made one connection and the tip which made the other connection. The Tip was grounded at each end. The ring carried the direct current. Usually those were party lines where as many as 8 parties shared the line. The ring signals were in code with each customer having a different ring. Such as one long ring, or two long rings. Another would have a short ring or two short rings and still another might have a long and a short. etc.
Norm

I like the picture of two front halves of the body welded together. I think you could only have one end driving the car, but it was confusing. Good for parades and comedies. We had a car like that in San Diego many years ago, but I think it was about a 40 Pontiac, not a T.
Norm

Rich Eagle -
Did you spot the 20 hp White Model O steamer parked behind the electric, which is parked behind the Stearns, behind the Ford, behind the other Stearns, at the curb?

The 4th from the top is the earliest Model T “form a truck” I’ve ever seen. It obviously has a brass radiator but I see brass bonnets on those carbide head lights. And the 1916 TN Ford with 1916 license plates already looks worn out...
Many thanks Tom for again making my day

George

I was thinking the same thing...that '16 looks BEAT for how old it is supposed to be (judging from the plate)

Oil boom days... very hard on machines, animals, and people.

You have very sharp eyes, Dan. I wouldn't have known if it was steam or gas.
Thanks for spotting it.
I keep coming back to these wonderful photos. Seeing them once isn't enough for me.
Thanks so much again.
Rich

Tom wins the non existing, poster of the year award, Hands down!!!!

Ed aka #4

It looks like the “4th from the top” truck is chain drive.
Thank you for posting all these fantastic pics!

YellowTRacer wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 17, 2022 6:27 pm

Tom wins the non existing, poster of the year award, Hands down!!!!

Ed aka #4

I second that!

Interesting that the Tennessee 1916 has an aluminum crank handle.

TWrenn wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 17, 2022 1:22 pm

Great pics again Tom! Thanks. I love pics that show the telephone poles...that one about third the way down is a big one!! Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems someone said each insulator is a separate phone line? Or maybe a "party line"? Like to have my memory refreshed!

==================================

In that photo, the line is built to AM TEL & TEL (Bell) "Long Lines" standards of 1888.
This meant two wires (pair) per circuit. However, by the time of the photo, Bell had
developed multiple frequency transmission, enabling them to piggyback MANY calls
simultaneously over the same pair, making a simple answer to your question pretty
difficult. On local lines, or single subscriber leads, a pair might represent a single
customer or a party line as Norm described. In the rural area where I live, it was
common practice for a local exchange to make the customer build their own line TO
a point on the company system that the company dictated, and they would then patch
the customer in to the exchange. These privately built lines could be wildly crude and
crazy. Even small Mom-n-Pop telephone companies were notorious for operating crude
systems and line construction that "worked", but did not follow "standards".

Are we sure that the 1916 Tennessee plate T is a 1915 or 1916 T? I zoomed in and I can't see anything for sure that says it is. The headlamps appear to be late 1915 or 1916 style magneto lamps. But they could have been changed. Changing model T gas headlamps to modern electrics was very common even before 1915. Once the Ford factory lamps became available, they were often the easy choice at the Ford dealer's place.
Zoomed in, I can't tell what sort of firewall or cowl it may have? I can't tell if the hood has louvers (a reflection on the hood sides suggests a possibility but nothing for certain?).
The car appears to have earlier style oilers on the spring shackles, last used in early 1915, and then replaced by the "manhole covers" in early 1915. Which goes against the later black trimmed headlamps (which again could have been replaced?). The aluminum crank handle would suggest a 1914 at the latest. Another thing. I can't tell if the front fenders have four or three rivets in the top for the mounting brackets. The "bills" could indicate late 1914 transitional production (how late was that crank handle used?), or early 1913 or 1912 which also had "bills" on the front fenders.
One last detail I notice. I can see the bottom of the drain under the engine pan. From that angle, to see as much of it as I can see? I think it is an earlier larger "teacup" size drain.
I suspect it may be a 1912 or early 1913. I sure wish I had a better picture of the whole car. But sometimes I like to stick my neck out to see if someone can shoot me down.

I'm pretty sure I see louvers in the hood.

George House wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 17, 2022 2:29 pm

The 4th from the top is the earliest Model T “form a truck” I’ve ever seen. It obviously has a brass radiator but I see brass bonnets on those carbide head lights. And the 1916 TN Ford with 1916 license plates already looks worn out...
Many thanks Tom for again making my day

The 1916 TN car... Is it my imagination, or are the headlights filled with water right up to the light sockets? The photo possibly showing the result of a recent flood?

Thanks Brent! That was good info...think how exciting that had to be back then, to talk to someone miles away just by hollering...and I bet many did just that...into that horned shape mouthpiece holding that heavy earpiece! And of course plenty of "technical frustrations" too. Just like we still have today!

Oh yeh..fergot!...LOVE that pic of that cobbled telephone pole! Yankee ingenuity at its best!

Burger in Spokane wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 18, 2022 2:28 am

. . . privately built lines could be wildly crude and crazy. . .

In the hills east of us, telephone was run to the occasional ranch house through the barbed wire fences into the early 1970s.

I have been scanning my Model T publications trying to find a photo of that black Cope with the wire wheels. Somewhere there are other pictures of what I believe is the same car as the female owner/driver is pictured closer to the car. Anyone know the picture I am thinking of and what publication? Great pictures as always. I have been enjoying these old picture posts very much. Merry Christmas to all.

Expectations for early phone performance were on par with expectations
for early automotive performance. When the last vehicle you had was a horse,
that TT seems to move like lightning, and can do it all day long ! Single wire
(ground return) phone circuits, or stuff run through fences *could* get the job
done (in good weather), but were spotty, at best, in inclement situations. But
what else did people know ? It was pretty magical for the times, even if it was
crude or ineffective compared to what came later.