"The microphone was here, and she could hear the sound of the bells."Ĭlever but super slow. "This is a high tech startup story, only it's 120 years old now," Amstein says.įor the first generation of payphones, for example, women operators listened to musical notes rung by different-sized coins as they were dropped into the slot. It's a Willy Wonka's factory of clattering gizmos, many invented by steam age eccentrics and tinkerers who managed to connect an entire world. This is a place where self-described technology nerds such as Amstein are preserving and restoring machines that ran America's first landline telephone network. "But there are definitely some things that will give you a fairly unpleasant zap, so do be a little cautious about what you touch."Īmstein works in Seattle's tech industry, but in his spare time he's a lead volunteer, tour guide and board president of the group that runs the Connections Museum. "There are exposed electrical terminals, probably nothing will kill you," he says.
Peter Amstein, a volunteer who serves as president of the Connections Museum board, says early phone technology shaped his IT career.Īs Peter Amstein squeezes through a warren of equipment racks draped with wire and crammed with whirring machines, he offers a cheerful warning.
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