You lost me there. What was manufactured before the war? The handset, the microphone, Sam’s switchboard, or something else? (The 1892 phone I linked to definitely predates WW2 
)
Switzerland Ericsson is Ericsson AG, not the Sweden LM Ericsson.
One is a subsidiary of the other. They’re pretty much everywhere.
Something I thought about. was why it ended up in England. also why it was painted blue. a number of people said it looks like a film prop. maybe it was a film prop, hence the blue. tomorrow I have a lot of heavy moving stuff however ill try find the time to go to the shop and get the dealer who’s stall it was contact and get some info from where they got it from.
Since my last post, i have found many of these rotary phones that have similar rotary switch bits. My working theory is that one of these U43 rotary phones were harvested for parts. Likely they were used for similar purposes. I am tackling this research by trying to limit the time frame when the rotary dial was made. The problem with my theory is that there is a plaque on the inside of this thing. Clearly the case is at least original Ericsson, and its from the COLOMBES plant to boot. This all lends to this all being one original unit. Even so, as mentioned below, parts are interchangeable in many cases so it could be that some of these are from different models, or even they were manufactured with an existing model’s type of part.
1924 model PTT 24
This was the french standard phone until 1943. Although the dial looks similar, the handset was manufactured by Bell/Western Electric, not Ericsson. I think it is safe to ignore this for now.
1943 model U43:
These began manufacture in 1943. I have found photos that show manufacturing date as late as 1963. These telephones were compatible with both automatic and manual networks. It’s components were used in subsequent models. The U63 superceded this model in 1963.
This is the first one i found. It has a small switch board on it. It looks like the bakelite mold is different as well, but i cannot find the exact model.
I found another image of this thing. One of the switches clearly says “cabine” which can be a booth, cabin, or even taxi. I know i was that on the one sam has as well. There is also a label “caisse” or “checkout” literally cash i think. I just want to keep in mind some of the purposes this other type of phone is used for, and what overlaps we have in the one sam has. I find it interesting that the patch bay has a label that corresponds to this other phone.
Should also mention for completeness that the switchboard mentions levels (there are two levels labeled). I came across some Ericsson intercom devices that were used in mining. I know the prevailing theory is hotel, but i think its important not to rule this option out as well.
I want to look again for switchboards that match what we see. When i was looking, the indicator lights were nearly always on top or not present or some other factor. Something to keep in mind is that this one has 30 lines.
Ive noticed people call this phone “PTT 330-1” because thats whats on the label.
Whatever this thing is, it sounds pretty unique.
Some differences between these:
Sam’s:
(Curls Left)
No directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is included in the directory.
1924 model PTT 24
(Curls Right)
Has directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is NOT included in the directory.
The box DOES align correctly.
1924 model PTT 24 [Wall Varient]
(Curls Right)
Has directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is NOT included in the directory.
The box DOES NOT align correctly.
The unknown, suspected “1940s” one from eBay
(Curles Right)
Has directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is NOT included in the directory.
The box DOES NOT align correctly.
1943 model U43
(Curls Left)
No directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is included in the directory.
The box DOES NOT align correctly.
https://www.matilo.eu/3-the-phones/1926-1945-bakeliet-ww2/u43-frankrijk/?lang=en
1954 model U43
(Curls Right)
Has directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is NOT included in the directory.
The box DOES NOT align correctly.
1963 model U43
(Curls Right)
No directory #s
Derangements “Disturbances” is included in the directory.
The box DOES NOT align correctly.
That close up of the switchboard is helpful. Perhaps this has already been checked out by a francophone on this forum, but the board does look like it’s for a three-storey building with numbered rooms, a public phone on each landing (palier 1Er, palier 2Er) and an enclosed phone booth (cabine). The second floor (in UK and French usage; in US usage it would be called the third floor) has only three numbered rooms; perhaps these would be luxury suites. The lower floors each have ten.
But why 2er? I thought French notation for 2nd was 2me or 2eme.
Yeah, it was pointed out by several people on the Patreon posts, including by native speakers (hence the “size, labels and numbers” note above).
But why 2er? I thought French notation for 2nd was 2me or 2eme.
I think that’s 2Et, as in 2 étage (2nd floor)
I wrote a huge long comment over on Patreon based on what I know of 20th Century phone systems (mainly British GPO ones but the tech was more or less the same everywhere), only to have it deleted by Patreon. Twice. The first time I could recover it (when I thought it was my fault) because it was all in my clipboard, but the second deletion destroyed the lot. Apparently they think long comments with carriage returns are spam 
Basically, all GPO phones and associated hardware up to the 80s were incredibly modular. You could chop and change bits to get your desired device - or rather, your telephone engineer could. And they did; the backs of GPO vans were chock full of components that would let anything get frankensteined together. I imagine that the situation would’ve been the same across Europe, if not the world, so the fact that this seems unique isn’t actually that unique.
I wrote a bunch of other stuff about components as well but I can’t remember everything. Hey ho, blame Patreon 
You could chop and change bits to get your desired device - or rather, your telephone engineer could.
Telephone parts, catalog 646 has all the bits you need (this one’s from 1945; Sam’s switchboard is obviously newer, but this catalog has most of the components you’d need to build your own):
Maybe not so sure and not so obvious?
Nah, the red logo was introduced in 1942, and the chassis, wiring, and components look a lot newer than that. @caustic seems to be referring to the dial, but that’s one of those things they hardly ever changed back then, since doing so would confuse users. We’re talking about an era where phone exteriors had a lifetime of 20-30 years or more.
(the 1892 “dachshund/skeleton” model I linked to earlier was still being made in the early thirties)
An electromechanical cord switchboard is definitely pre-war technology, though 
That’s the sort of thing, yes! In the UK it was all controlled by the GPO so there wasn’t any catalogues like this available to the public. (Best repository for information is https://www.britishtelephones.com/ - a site that hasn’t had its styling changed in the 22 years it’s been going - but that’s besides the point here.)
If anybody is in the West Midlands and wants a really satisfying, moderately nerdy day out (once we can have days out again) I recommend Avoncroft Museum. One of the main things they have there is the National Collection of Telephone Kiosks - every phone box from the 1920s to 2000s together with a small phone exchange built from period accurate equipment (where possible) linking them all together. And gems like this…
Don’t think so, he was writing a reply to this post which is about the handset. Maybe @caustic was referring to the handset? But it looked to me like “it” meant the switchboard.
The handset is plugged into the switchboard via a standard jack, no different from a pair of headphones. I don’t think the age of the handset tells you that much about the rest 
Re handsets, I found this retrospective in one of the tech journals:
The 1892 model is supposedly the first commercially available phone that had a proper handset with both “transmitter” and “receiver”, but it would take a few more years before they switched to more modern-looking handsets. And yeah, the last one there is white bakelite. Also available in mahagony, according to the parts catalog. Non-bakelite was post-war, at least for Ericsson.
I like the ones with a “magneto generator”.
I didn’t really notice much, except perhaps that it’s exceptionally easy to read. I’ve always had a bee in my bonnet about excessive use of unnecessary drapery on what is still supposed to be an information-driven medium.
I’m the same - by “besides the point” I meant because it’s not about Ericsson devices 
This was much earlier in my research. I have gone through a lot of pages and rabbitholes. I even found out that this french Ericsson made portable encryption machines before the war. Hat had me go down a rabbit hole that did not yield fruit for this research but was nevertheless interesting.
i have no idea what this thing is or how to get it working again , BUT if you wanna get off that nasty blue paint without damaging the layer underneath (too much) try making a scraper out of a thicker acrylic sheet , just grind two angles on the edge like on a knife and sand it down until its smooth and not sharp anymore , with that you will get the paint of a litle easier , you also could sand it of and polish the varnish underneath but thats a little dangerous to sand through the varnish …
The kit on the end of the umbilical cord would be part of a distribution frame mounted on a nearby wall or purpose-built frame next to similar blocks that connect to the subscribers’ telephones or the outside lines.
The switchboard & a distribution frame would make an interesting exhibit, especially if there were telephone jacks installed throughout the museum to patch signals through. Museum patrons could even role-play as a switchboard operator for synth patches. The frame display could also feature a lineman’s handset or an inductive amplifier for listening into the signals.
