Automatic Electric Type 21 Wall Phone with Bulldog Transmitter

The Automatic Electric Type 21 Metal Wall Phone dates from the 1920s and includes all required components including the ringer in a single cabinet. It is the wall phone equivalent to the AE Type 21 Candlestick that was so popular at the time. Due to the small size of Model 21 relative to other wall phones of the time, it proved to be extremely popular and the product therefore remained in production until replaced with more modern products with integrated handsets.

My favorite thing about this phone is the addition of the Automatic Electric bulldog transmitter. This Model 21 has been completely refurbished. It has been upgraded with a modern network to facilitate connections to modern phone lines. The line and receiver cords which have been replaced with high quality cloth covered reproductions.

The Restoration Process

Dial – The dial has been fully disassembled, cleaned, lubed and timed to ensure years of trouble free service. The outer edge of the dial has been stripped and repainted with a gloss black enamel. Unless the dial is removed, this is something you will rarely ever even see, but this is how it would have come from the factory. The number plate has been cleaned and a perfectly matching overlay has been applied. The finger wheel has been sandblasted and powder coated with a semi-gloss black finish. A brand new die cut dial card and acetate cover have been added as well

Cords – The phone has been outfitted with brand new cloth covered cords that are made in house on the same type of equipment originally used by the phone companies. They look amazing. You can choose from either black or brown cloth cords. The line cord has a modular connection to facilitate a modern connection to your wall jack.

Shell – The metal body has been stripped down and sandblasted using a glass grit media and powder coated in a semi-gloss black finish. This closely resembles the finish on the original candlestick.

Receiver & Mouthpiece – Due to scarcity, our candlesticks will now be paired with a premium reproduction receiver and mouthpiece,

Network – The candlestick is outfitted with an unique network that fits in the transmitter housing. This allows the telephone to connect to a modern network without the need for a subset.  If you want your phone to ring,  we offer external bell ringers or subsets available as an option.

The phone goes through extensive testing before to ensure it is in perfect working condition prior to shipping

Do you currently have any rotary phones? If the answer is no, it is always a good idea to call your local phone company and check if they still support “pulse” dialing. If they do, you are all set to go. If they do not, your phone will not be able to place calls without a converter. We have internal converters for this type of setup available for $79.95 (installed during assembly)

As an alternative, we provide an option to use this phone as an extension of your cell phone. The XLink Bluetooth gateway will allow you to make and receive calls using a vintage rotary dial through a Bluetooth connection to your cell phone. Since it supports rotary telephones, a pulse to tone converter is not required for this option.