Description
The Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company of Antwerp was founded in 1882 to produce phones for the European market and was jointly owned by the U.S. firms American Bell and Western Electric. Several years later it became an operating company of Western Electric. Bell Antwerp brought the telephone to Europe and accomplished many “firsts,” including the very first inter-city trunk line, which was between Antwerp and Brussels (1884) and the first international telephone link in Europe, which linked Brussels and Paris (1887). After the German Army invaded and occupied Belgium during the opening months of World War I, the company was shut down in October 1914, and remained closed for the next four years until the war ended.
Condition: Generally very good with light overall oxidation of plated surface.
Reference:
Estreich, Bob and Jan Verhelst. “The Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company of Antwerp, Belgium.” Bob’s Old Phones. http://www.bobsoldphones.net/Pages/BTMC/BTMCHistory.htm (19 September 2011).
