The field of scripophily is a relatively modern addition to the growing group
of collecting hobbies. It is a present fairly cheap, in my opinion, to form a
worthwhile and ongoing collection of telephone paper ephemera, which would fall
under the general banner of scripophily.
What is scripophily, what is it's
connection to antique phones, and who are these telephone scripophilists? Well,
put simply they are collectors of old defunct bond and share certificates and
other related financial telephone papers. That may sound very dull and even
boring; it is certainly neither. Each piece of paper, as you can see by looking
at the illustrations, not only tells an economic history but also can be an
extremely pretty document to look at. In fact many collectors have framed them.
Unfortunately black and white illustrations do not do them justice as the colors
involved are magnificent.
The fact that they can be beautifully printed in
various colors and are decorative and pleasing to the eye, is not the only, nor
even the most important reason to collect telephone stocks and bonds. It is the
story behind the companies and the men who signed the certificates, the pioneers
of telephony. The early certificates were usually signed in ink by the officers
of the companies. Hold one of these early certificates and telephone history
jumps out at you. With a bit of research and an interest in telephone history,
this is available to any collector.
Since the hobby of scripophily is fairly new, there are still many unknowns
within the hobby. Research needs to be done to determine such things as
cataloging the different companies that issued certificates, the number printed,
value, and history of the company itself.
Just as in antique telephone
collecting where certain phones or manufacturers are more popular to collect
such as potbelly candlesticks and Western Electric items, the same holds true
for scripophily.
Well, let's get back to telephone certificates. The type of
telephone related companies one finds on certificates are: Telephone operating
companies, telephone equipment manufacturers, radio telephone, telegraphing
typewriter (teletype), and finally we can even include telegraph companies. The
illustrations shows a certificate from the Roxite Company. (Following page).
Pictured on the certificate is a long pole receiver sitting on the writing shelf
of a 3-box phone. On the cap of the receiver is the Roxite Company name and
patent date. This would lead one to believe this company made long pole
receivers. The other certificate shown is from the Gray Manufacturing Co. (Gray
Paystation Co.).
Where are certificates found? Most certificates come on the
market and into collectors hands from stock brokers and holding companies
clearing out old certificates that had been in storage for years. For example,
recently the Penn Central Corp. released for sale through auction hundreds and
hundreds of certificates of the various railroads the company controlled during
its railroad days. This sale provided collectors collectors with many new
certificates from many different railroads. Many certificates that had been
considered rare are no longer so.
Any reader who would like more information or
has a question may feel free to contact me.
