Singing Wires Page

For many members, Singing Wires, the monthly journal of Telephone Collectors International, is the primary reason they joined us. Read on to find out why!

Singing Wires presents a unique collection of informative articles and news of the telephone collectors' community. The primary focus is the telephone collecting hobby but it includes many well written articles on telephone history that make it interesting to anyone who is interested in the history of telecommunications.

Singing Wires also includes members' free advertisements.

Go here for article submission guidelines and advertisment instructions.

See a "searchable" index of all the past issues from 2006 back.
(You will need the Adobe Acrobat reader.)

This Month...

The President’s Column by Paul Wills

THE TRIMLINE® BASE - BOTTOM PLATE STYLE PHOTOS By Richard Gerber and Paul Fassbender

Exploding the Phone by Rick Miles

Meet Charles McDonald by Bill Guerts

TCI News and Views

Lancaster Show Info

2013 Election Results

"VOICE WITH THE SMILE" - Author Recalls How the Famous Slogan Was Born From the Pacific Telephone Magazine, March 1952

Show Announcements

Buy / Sell / Trade

This Month's Bonus Section:

The Trimline Base - Supplement

Voice with the Smile

Portable Demonstration Switchboard

Phone Booths

Go here for a few free sample "E"-version Singing Wires.

Featured Articles

From the April 2007 issue: Resurrecting and Restoring old WECo 500 sets Russ Cowell shares his secrets with easy to follow "step by step" instructions.

From the October 2008 issue: Roger's Reminiscences Why the Bell System Opposed the Automatic Dial Telephone, Part I by Roger Conklin.

From the June 2004 issue: The Kellogg Type 1000 Masterphone By Roger Conklin. A definitive article on the Kellogg 1000 or, "Redbar" as it is known by collectors.

From the December 2002 issue: The A-B-C's of Western Electric Desksets By Gary Goff. Do the terms A1, B1, C1, D1, 102, 202, etc. have you confused. Gary Goff provides a definitive reference as to what they all mean.

From the July 2001 issue: When Western Electric Secretly Controlled Kellogg By Roger Conklin. An interesting story of corporate intrigue and betrayal.

From the November 1990 issue: The Western Electric Color Palette By Paul McFadden. An overview of those elusive Western Electric Colored Sets.

Also from the March 1998 issue: The Wire Chief's Dream. A spooky followup to The Phantom Circuit originally from the March 1917 issue of The Telephone News.

From the March 1998 issue: The Phantom Circuit by Paul Wills. A nifty way to obtain three telephone circuits from four wires!

From the February 1999 issue: The Attachment Corner by Mitch Soroka. This installment features the Red Cross Germ Proof Mouthpiece.

From the March 1999 issue: 50 Years Old, And Still Going Strong. A 50 year tribute to the 500 set by Bruce Crawford.

From the December 1998 issue: The Book Shelf by George W. Howard. This month, George reviews The Speaking Telephone, Electric Light, and Other Recent Inventions by George B. Prescott.

From the December 1998 issue: Tickled by Nickel By Steve Brink. Dedicated to the person who finds a really nice telephone that needs a little work!

Advertisment and Article Submission Guidelines

Article submissions, questions about contents and letters should be addressed to the Singing Wires Editorial Board at

Regular buy/sell/trade advertisements for Singing Wires are free for members and should be sent to the editor, at

Deadlines are as follows:

Advertisments: The first of the month. (For example, the advertisments for the July issue must be received by July 1st.)

Article Submission Deadline: The 25th of the month before the issue date. (For example, the July issue article deadline is June 25th.)

Bonus Pages Material: The 12th of the issue month. (For example, the July issue Bonus Pages material must be received by July 12th.)

ARTICLES WANTED!
Help preserve the history of telephony

The TCI Singing Wires Editorial Board (SWEB) encourages all members to write and submit articles for publication in Singing Wires about their collections, favorite phones, telephone related experiences, etc.

It is preferred that articles be limited to two pages. That means it should be no more than about 2000 words in length or less if pictures are to be included. Pictures should be of high resolution so they may be cropped if needed.

Please describe any interesting phone feature mentioned in sufficient detail that a technically-minded journal reader can understand what it is, why it's important and how it works (at least in general terms). BSP or catalog references always help add credibility to your work.

If you feel you do not have good writing skills, do not let that deter you. A member of the SWEB will gladly work with you on the final stages of your article, providing assistance, research and editing.

Submit your article to: to the Singing Wires Singing Wires Editorial Board at

Similarly, if you are into switching, send your Switcher's Quarterly articles to the SQ Editor at:

TCI reserves the right to edit all articles for length, format and clarity. TCI may publish any article submitted in Singing Wires, Switcher’s Quarterly, the TCI website, various CD or DVD summaries and other publications.

Display Advertisments

Members and non-members are invited to take out "display ads" in varying sizes for a very reasonable monthly fee.

Display advertising rates for members are:
$10 Half column (HC) (vertical)
$10 Double quarter column (horizontal)
$20 Double half column (DHC)
$30 Triple half column (THC) (half page)
$60 Full page

The commercial advertising rates for non-members are:
$20 Half column (HC) (vertical)
$20 Double quarter column (horizontal)
$40 Double half column (DHC)
$60 Triple half column (THC) (half page)
$120 Full page

Members and Non-members desiring to purchase display advertising should send an electronic copy of the advertisement to: and remit appropriate payment via Paypal to:

Deadline for ads is the first of the month for ads to appear in that month's issue. These rates are for "display ads" only. Regular buy-sell-trade listings are always free to TCI members. Download AdSizeTemplates.pdf for more information.

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Revised 04/18/13

See a "searchable" index of all the past issues from 2006 back. (You will need the Adobe Acrobat reader.)

See a "searchable" index of all the past issues from 2006 back.
(You will need the Adobe Acrobat reader.)