The Strowger Automatic Electric telephone from 1910-30's

In 1912 Australia's first automatic telephone exchange was installed at Geelong. Victoria; approximately 70km South-West of the State Capital, Melbourne The exchange equipment was Strowger Automatic telephone apparatus, manufactured by the Automatic Electric Company, Chicago USA. 

In association with the exchange installation, large quantities of small wall mounted telephones were also imported. They were known officially as the PMG Type 35, but also known colloquially as the Geelong. 

These phones for the PMG were made from timber and painted black. They were of cheap construction compared to other telephones of the era, and their electrical circuit was very simple. 

Notice that there is no induction coil in the phone, and the receiver does not contain permanent magnets. The phone circuit is extremely simple, with the transmitter and receiver connected in series. 

Just one "off-normal" spring set on the dial which places a short circuit across both the transmitter and receiver.

The original (PMG Type 35) version of this telephone had no induction coil and no permanent magnets in the bell receiver (test it with a screwdriver)

This particular phone has a genuine PMG imprint into the timber just above the transmitter and also a genuine "Commonwealth of Australia, PMG" metal tag between the dial and transmitter. It is also wired exactly as the circuit diagram at the top of this page

Another 2nd version  Automatic Electric . Although the earpiece has some small chips, I have left it on this phone because it is the rarer genuine model with the small (permanent magnet-less) insert.