Western Electric No. 1 Speaking Tube Desk Telephone. Alexander Graham Bell’s first upright desk top telephone model. Equipped with the earliest form hard rubber marked transmitter face designed specifically for Speaking Tube use and a Code No. 129 unipolar low resistance watch case receiver with matching serial numbers. Telescoping shaft allows the user to adjust the transmitter height for ease of use. Speaking tubes were described in the Western Electric product catalog as Factory, Special or Interior telephones and advertised to provide excellent service, be neat in appearance and require little attention. This desk set was probably introduced between 1893 - 1894. It uses Western Electric’s larger, second generation potbelly base. The wider base was an improvement over the original narrow potbelly base. Fantastic, original condition and one of the rarest telephones in the collection. Size 13" T.