Manufacturer: Mohawk Business Machines Corp. (Mohawk)
Model: Tele-magnet
Type: combination
Place of origin: Brooklyn, New York
Date of manufacture: 1949
See also: Tele-magnet
Comments: An early telephone answering machine, using off-the-shelf subsystems including a phonograph, wire recorder, and telephone. AT&T would not allow "foreign" (i.e. non-AT&T) manufacturers to attach equipment directly to Bell System wires without permission, so early answering machines used a mechanical device to operate the "on hook" switch on the telephone, and typically placed the telephone receiver on an acoustic coupling device.
