This page will hopefully detail my progress as I restore an old Monarch Telephone. The end-goal is to have it work, and to appear similar to the way it was when it was originally in use. I do not intend to install either a punch pad nor a rotary dial on it. I hope to hook it to a voice-controlled computer, which will respond only to commands after being addressed as "Mabel". That's very wishful thinking at this point, but hey.
Sat Jan 31 17:44:31 EST 2004 -- After a trip to my parent's house last Thanksgiving, I returned with a Monarch Telephone that had been used at my father's father's farm in Wisconsin. Here are some pictures of what it looks like (following a little cleanup). I've cleaned the wood with Murphy's soap and Old English oil. I hope that doesn't screw it up. I haven't tackled the metal parts yet, because I'm not certain what they're made of. They're not magnetic, so I don't think they're steel.