Model 36
The desk phone model 36 (also wrongly called W 36 ) is the "forefather" and pioneer of the German pre- and post-war telephones of the model series W 38 and W 48 , at first glance it does not differ from them. This device is a classic of industrial design ; the shape of its housing and receiver was a style-defining feature in telephone construction for many decades.
history
Mid-1930s, commissioned the German Imperial Post , the company Siemens & Halske with the construction of a replacement model for the then standard telephone W 28 . Incidentally, the W designation is typical of the Post and means “dialer”, the numbers stand for the year of introduction.
Since 1934, Siemens has carried out extensive tests, tried out new types of materials, shapes and manufacturing processes. In 1936, Siemens finally presented a model based on this research to the public at the Leipzig Spring Fair . It should be more reliable, easier to repair and, above all, more cost-effective, and with its elegant housing made of Bakelite (phenolic resin molded material), it should also impress in terms of design. Despite the significantly improved acoustic properties, the Reichspost was not completely satisfied with the model presented. They wanted improvements.
The requirements in detail:
- a number switch with a compulsory pause between the dialed digits so that, for example, the quick dialing of an "11" could no longer be misinterpreted as a "2", since both would generate two identical pulses. The rotary dials in the exchanges needed a certain amount of time to control. That was already a problem with the W 28.
- a case with a thicker material - it was rightly feared that the Bakelite could quickly tear and break. Despite this fear and the extensive destruction of German cities in the Second World War, some of these devices are still intact today.
Since the Reichspost did not approve the model, it never became a "W 36". The correct name is therefore "Model 36", Siemens & Halske model numbers "fg.tist.166" (telephone table station 166) and later "fg.tist.221". Siemens still produced the device for private telephone systems until around 1948 . Initially, a number switch of the type N30 was installed - as before in the W 28 - but with white numbers on a black enamel wreath , but there are also individual photos with black numbers on a white background and shiny, black finger-hole disc ("dial") ) made of Bakelite. And as with the W 28, a mechanical lock prevents the number switch from being opened while the fork is depressed. Later the model 36 was only equipped with the number switch "NrS 38".
In the 1940s, there were a few examples of the Model 36 from Siemens & Halske, where the housing cap and the finger-hole disc were made of black-painted zinc die-cast (see link below for pictures).
There is an ivory-colored version of the 36 model with a brown number ring and a brown version with a red number ring. The time and place of manufacture (Germany or Austria) are not proven. The model 36 was produced with and , if requested, also without an earth button , for example for the Deutsche Reichsbahn .
The Model 36 compared to its successors
Although the outside of the model 36 looks very similar to the W 38 and its successors, the W 48 and W 55, it is not structurally identical. From the outside, you can quickly recognize the model 36 by the connecting cord that does not exit in the center at the back, which comes out further to the left. Also on the locked number switch (if available) and on the housing screws on the underside, which are mirror images of the W 38.
When viewed from the front, the side edges of the casing of the 36 model run exactly at right angles to the table, while the subsequent models are slightly sloped upwards. In addition, the base plate is not embedded flush into the Bakelite housing, as in the successor models, but protrudes from the underside so that the edge of the base plate can be seen. Paradoxically, by letting in the base plate in the successors, the housing material became thinner at the lower edges and thus more fragile. Today you can find many of the successor machines with chipped edges.
As with the W 38 , the telephone receiver has a funnel-shaped, two-part mouthpiece (mouthpiece). The inner workings differ significantly from the successor models in the arrangement of the identical components.
As already mentioned, the successor models of the 36 model are not identical, but most of the components and connection cables between the 36, W 38, W 48 and W 55 models can be exchanged as required - except for the hook switch and terminal block. There are no structural differences between the individual components . The electrical components can vary in shape and size as well as the type of "packaging", with paper wrapping mostly brown, less often cream, due to different manufacturers and years of construction, but the function and connection assignment always remains the same. In some pre-war models of the W 38, as well as in many post-war models, round capacitors were installed.
The same applies to the W 38, which were continued to be built in the GDR after the war, and the slightly modified successors W 48 in the Federal Republic and W 55 (GDR). This also applies in part to their further developments W49, W58 , W61, W63 (a) as well as foreign replicas of individual components and entire apparatus (e.g. in the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Romania).
Post war production
Many telephone sets of the first post-war years consisted of a hodgepodge of different components. Out of necessity, all existing spare parts were assembled into new devices regardless of the model series and standards. In this way, sometimes strange crossings were created from the model 36, W 28 and W 38.
Most of the time, the lettering on the capacitors and thus their year has been removed. The base plates were also often provided with new holes in order to be able to combine a W 38 housing with the Model 36 base plate. Such improvisations are available from Siemens, from VEB Fernmeldewerk Nordhausen (both with the identifier: fg.tist.221b) and also from Austria (fg.01.tif.066).
Although the W 38 replaced the 36 model in 1940, it was produced again by Mix & Genest in Germany and by Siemens & Halske in Germany and Austria soon after the war. The production year 1948 is still proven for Germany. In Austria, the Model 36 was still being built in the 1950s by the nationalized Wiener Schwachstrom-Werke (WSW) for private telephone systems. Spare parts were still being sold to wholesalers in 1960. In West Germany, a few examples of the Model 36 received postal approval, which was probably due to the shortage of materials in the first post-war years.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Model 36 in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna