pay phone story

Payphone Story – Global History of Payphones and Phone Booths

Northern Electric N-233HM Payphone

Northern Electric manufactured this N233HM payphone in Canada in 1964; museum records locate 233H production in Montreal. Based on Western Electric designs, Canadian manufacture supplied Bell Canada while avoiding import duties. Western Electric formerly part-owned Northern Electric. American-made parts are unconfirmed in this example, which accepted three different coin denominations.

Name	Northern Electric N-233HM
Date	1964
Manufacturer	Northern Electric

Below images Northern Electric N-233HM

Northern Electric N-233HM was manufactured in the 3rd Quarter of 1964.
Equipped w/P96Q100 Coin Gauge

Below images- 223HM

The Northern Electric N233HM was a Canadian three-slot rotary payphone based on Western Electric’s American design. This example was manufactured in the third quarter of 1964, confirmed by its internal date marking and accompanying documentation. Its housing bears the inscription “Made in Canada”. Ingenium’s catalogue identifies Montreal, Quebec, as the manufacturing location for the 233H model. 1978.0036.001

Canadian production was undertaken by Northern Electric, Bell Canada’s equipment manufacturer. Western Electric formerly owned 44 per cent of Northern Electric and supplied designs, patents and manufacturing information. Producing Bell System equipment locally supplied Canada’s telephone network while avoiding import duties on finished American equipment. Northern continued using Western Electric technology after Western sold its ownership interest. publications.gc.ca

Northern initially assembled purchased components, then progressively manufactured components itself using Western Electric drawings adapted for Canadian requirements. American design ancestry therefore does not establish American manufacture of individual parts. The supplied photographs do not confirm any USA-made components in this particular telephone. publications.gc.ca

Its separate slots accepted five-, ten- and twenty-five-cent coins. The fitted P96Q100 coin gauge incorporated magnetic slug rejection. A locked lower vault stored collected money. The bilingual instruction card, dated 1975, specifies a twenty-cent local-call deposit, followed by dial tone and rotary dialling.

Below- This is a 1964 Northern Electric model #N233H pay phone. It has the coin box and both locks with keys to open upper housing and vault door. It came with the anti-slug magnetic coin slots.