Communications
Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.
The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.
More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.
"Communications - Overview" showing 1402 items.
Page 1 of 141
Newspaper clipping, McDonald's Menu
- Description
- The original McDonald brothers' restaurant opened in San Bernardino, California, in 1948. It served hamburgers, fries, and beverages, still the mainstays of McDonald's Restaurant menus.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1965
- maker
- McDonald's Corporation
- ID Number
- 2013.3090.01
- accession number
- 2013.3090
- catalog number
- 2013.3090.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Telephone Answering Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This Crown model CTA-4000 answering machine from the late 1960s used a non-standard cassette for recording messages. The telephone sat on top of the unit and was connected via a pickup and telephone cradle plug. A small microphone is mounted in a slot on the right side. The duration of message was 60 seconds. An advertisement from 1968 lists the retail price as $98.50 while one year it sold for $49.95.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1968
- maker
- Crown Radio Corporation
- ID Number
- 1982.0264.01
- accession number
- 1982.0264
- catalog number
- 1982.0264.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Poster, Cleveland: Many Peoples One Language
- Description
- Waves of non–English–speaking European immigrants flooded the cities of industrial America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Local governments and civic groups sought to encourage immigrants to learn to speak, read, and write English. This 1917 poster from the Americanization Committee of the Cleveland Board of Education was posted in schools in an attempt to reach immigrant parents through their children.
- An appeal to attend free evening English classes appears on this poster in six languages : Italian, Hungarian, Slovenian, Polish, Yiddish, and English. Cleveland's factories, steel mills, port facilities, and assembly plants teemed with the new working–class arrivals from central and eastern Europe. On the eve of the American entry into World War I, nationalistic passions were rising and new immigrants were especially encouraged to "become American" by learning English and preparing for American citizenship.
- The 29" x 43" poster is a J. H. Donahey publication printed by the Artcraft Company of Cleveland, Ohio.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1917
- referenced
- Cleveland Board of Education
- graphic artist
- Artcraft Company
- maker
- Donahey, James Harrison
- ID Number
- 1986.0799.01
- accession number
- 1986.0799
- catalog number
- 1986.0799.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Telephone Answering Machine
- Description (Brief)
- The Japanese emphasized electronic technology when rebuilding their manufacturing capability after World War II. The need to replace factories and equipment destroyed during the war gave them the opportunity to take advantage of the latest innovations and enter new markets. The invention of the transistor at Bell Labs in 1947 proved to be a significant opportunity for Japanese electronics companies like Minatronics.
- This model TE-155 answering machine does not electrically connect to the telephone, A desk telephone was placed on the deck of the unit and the lever is slipped under the handset. When the phone rang, the lever lifted the hand-set and the recording began. This indirect method of recording was required due to AT&T’s disapproval of telephone answering machines. Since the device did not connect to the company’s lines, the user avoided sanction.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1966
- maker
- Minatronics Corporation
- ID Number
- 1987.0176.01
- accession number
- 1987.0176
- catalog number
- 1987.0176.01
- model number
- TE-155A
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Telephone Answering Machine
- Description (Brief)
- In 1971, PhoneMate introduced the Model 400 answering machine that held twenty messages on a reel-to-reel tape. An earphone allowed the user to listen privately to incoming messages. Bell Telephone resisted the introduction of answering machines for many years, fearful that people would make fewer calls if they thought they might be recorded.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1974
- maker
- PhoneMate
- ID Number
- 1989.0371.03
- accession number
- 1989.0371
- catalog number
- 1989.0371.03
- model number
- 400
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Telephone Answering Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This PhoneMate model 960 telephone answering machine was advertised as "SAM" or Smart Answering Machine. The user carried a small remote control and could retrieve messages by calling from any location. A tone emitted by the remote control activated the play-back function on the recorder.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1981
- maker
- PhoneMate
- ID Number
- 1989.0371.04
- accession number
- 1989.0371
- catalog number
- 1989.0371.04
- model number
- 960
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cassette Tape Recorder
- Description (Brief)
- This portable cassette recorder was designed by the noted industrial designer John Vassos (1898-1985). Born in Romania to Greek parents, Vassos came to the US in 1919 and began studying design. Famous for his modernist designs, he contributed to establishing the look of radios and televisions after going to work for RCA in 1933.
- This recorder is one of his later projects but shows the clean lines and relative simplicity of the controls Vassos was known for. The recorder also shows how styles had changed since the streamlined designs of the 1930s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1972
- maker
- Radio Corporation of America
- ID Number
- 1989.0657.07
- accession number
- 1989.0657
- catalog number
- 1989.0657.07
- model number
- YZB532Y
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Reel-to-Reel Tape Recorder
- Description (Brief)
- This portable tape recorder was designed in the late 1950s by noted industrial designer John Vassos (1898-1985). Born in Romania to Greek parents, Vassos came to the US in 1919 and studied design. Famous for his modernist designs, he helped establish the look of radios and televisions after joining RCA in 1933.
- Tape recorders were a relatively new product for home use when RCA entered the market. Drawing on experiences with early radio and TV designs, Vassos’ design made this new technology feel accessible for ordinary people. Being portable, the recorder was also designed to withstand rough use.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1960
- maker
- Radio Corporation of America
- ID Number
- 1989.0657.08
- accession number
- 1989.0657
- catalog number
- 1989.0657.08
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Telegraph Key
- Description (Brief)
- Telegraph keys are electrical switches used to send messages in code. The message travels as a series of electrical pulses through a wire. The exact method of operating this automatic double-current key is unknown at this time. The key may have been used in laboratory experiments at King's College in London investigating submarine telegraph signaling.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- ID Number
- 1990.0539.12
- catalog number
- 1990.0539.12
- accession number
- 1990.0539
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Telephone Answering Machine
- Description (Brief)
- This Code-A-Phone 700 answering machine was produced in 1966, several years before a series of legal battles forced Bell Telephone to allow connection of non-Bell equipment to their telephone lines. Ultimately the Code-A-Phone was produced by Ford Industries with parts made by Western Electric, the Bell System’s manufacturing unit. Having decided that they could not prevent the use of answering machines, Bell used Code-A-Phone in an attempt to control the market.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1966
- maker
- Western Electric
- ID Number
- 1996.0224.01
- catalog number
- 1996.0224.01
- accession number
- 1996.0224
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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