Adelaide Central

It seems that we have got off to a reasonable start this year and let us hope that we get back to our old routines.

The ATCS is having its 17^th Big Auction on April 17^th. There is a snippet of what is available in The Exchange but for full details of items going under the hammer visit the ATCS website.

There were over forty members at last month’s meeting where some of the late Brian Pitchers’s telephones were auctioned. Overall the prices were fair for both the buyers and sellers. Another portion of Brian’s collection goes under the hammer at this meeting.

This year marks the 50^th anniversary of the Antique Telephone Collector’s Association (based in the USA). They were one of the first Telephone Collecting clubs established in the world. I take this opportunity of wishing them a very happy 50^th anniversary. They are celebrating by having a special Golden Anniversary ATCA Show on the 6^th and 7^th August 2021 in Shipshewana Indiana. There will be a formal club banquet and badges, ribbons and prizes for those attending. Of course, there will be many trading tables of telephones and related paraphernalia. (at the Silver anniversary show there were 176 eight-foot (2.4m) tables of telephones. I would really like to go over but at this stage that would depend on the success of the Covid vaccine both here and in the USA. 

If anyone is serious about going contact me, George Psorakis, and I will try to get your name on the door for free admission. 

The STAA is continuing to have issues with the bank (Westpac) sending paperwork around the country for signatures and then losing it. We have now approached another bank and hopefully the STAA Bank Account will soon be operational.

See you Saturday at our meeting at SA Power Networks at 1.30pm.

Kind regards

George Psorakis
President, SATCS
Phone: 08 84101111 (W), 08 83621191 (H), 0418 826497 (M)
Email: george@chios.com.au
Postal: PO Box 152 Kent Town SA 5071

Hello all – remember me, I’m Jack, the fellow who is supposed to create journals. Unfortunately, I have been flat out at work and that, added to family commitments means I have been unable to fulfill my duties as editor. In fact, I haven’t been able to do much at all – I haven’t written a serious article about the history of telephony for ages. That might not change for some time yet so in order to keep on top of the journal and other things, it would be helpful to get some contributions. It doesn’t have to be much – Steven Dunn in Mt Gambier has sent a few interesting things and it really does help. It is also interesting to the readership as it is not always me going on and on about some esoteric point. Looking forward to hearing from you! 

I don’t know what it is about pandemics, but they seem to cause an interest in old telephones. There is more activity on eBay and the prices seem to be increasing. The number of scams is also increasing. Not long ago, there was one little used Facebook (FB) group focussed on Australian telephones. Then the Western Australian group started followed by two others. In addition, an Australian telephone forum has started. Whether or not there is sufficient activity in Australia to support all these groups remains to be seen but it is encouraging to see that they are currently well supported and/or growing. Check them out – you might find something interesting there!

I hope to see you at the meeting – fingers crossed!

All the best,

Jack O'Brien
Editor, Adelaide Central