TMC Telephones

Because of Telephone Rentals' policy of destroying their ex-rental telephones after a few contracts, early TMC phones are surprisingly difficult to find. Many of the phones supplied from Fuld only had a TMC transfer (decal) to identify them, and this dried out and flaked off, so the phones may be wrongly identified. TMC does not seem to have produced many catalogs either, so there is simply very little information available on them. What follows is the best I have been able to find so far.

Left: Typical Fuld CB desk extension phone

Right: Double crank magneto desk phone with Fuld handset

Note the cradle design, typical of most Fuld/TMC telephones.

Left: Typical TMC intercom, approx 1920s.

Right: Wall intercom set with Fuld handset.

Left: TMC magneto intercom from the 1920s. Note the wide ebonite earpiece that seems to be typical of their phones from this period. It was introduced by Fuld in about 1920. This model is fitted with an Ericsson cradle.

Centre: A more basic wall intercom set from the same period. The handset uses the later Fuld transmitter.

Right: A later version with the new bakelite handset.

Left: Fallwaehler system 70-line desk intercom. All illustrations of these that I have seen show them fitted with Ericsson sanitary handsets

Centre: A wall model was also available. .This is a New System catalog illustration, showing a Fuld handset

Right: Tele No 38 , one of TMC's first phones for the British Post Office. Some TMC phones are known stamped as "No. 3".

Above:

Left: Typical 300-style TMC magneto phones. The desk model is the equivalent of the wall model shown at centre. Photo courtesy Deb Kelly. Note also that these phones use ATE bakelite cases (the circular logo in the centre). The markings underneath identify the phones as TMC custom models. They may have been produced as an emergency measure during and after World War 2 to make up a shortfall in magneto phones. In Australia they only appear to have been used on point-to-point private lines.

Right: The Secraphone scrambler phone. The green handset is typical of this model.