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If anyone knows of a company where a Mr F
Kuehn, Mr Kewen, Mr Becmer and Mr Esdaile worked together, that had Stencil and
Counting House departments, a Garage and two offices or departments, simply
known as ‘D/M’ and ‘DMS’ please get in touch. It might just provide a lead to
the maker of the company’s intercom system and this odd looking phone. Web
searches of combinations of those very unusual names proved fruitless so it is
more likely that someone out there recognises this 15-station desk intercom, if
so please get in touch as the only thing I can be reasonably sure of is that
the handset is British made, by Ericsson; whether or not they made the rest of
it, and when it was made is all a bit of a mystery. 
The fact that this phone has 15 buttons and the
names of the various departments suggests it once belonged to a medium to large
company and Mr Kewen’s position on the number one button might indicate he was
the boss. Maybe it was his secretary’s phone, who knows? Either way it’s a
pretty imposing instrument and the sort of thing that only company high-ups
would have had on their desks. The number of labelled buttons is also a fair
indication of the user’s status. It’s unlikely that dogsbodies and lickspittles
would need one to communicate with all those important sounding people. By the
way, here’s a little piece of historic tittle-tattle from that long forgotten
office. It seems that Mr Becmer took over from Mr Hooper, who’s name had been
hastily scratched out. Mr Esdaile was also a fairly recent addition to the
staff as his name is also written in by hand. Had I the time and inclination it
might be possible to tell who this phone’s user called most often, by examining
the wear on the contacts and buttons under a microscope, but maybe that’s
taking the story a bit too far… 
Whoever made it didn’t skimp. The Ericsson
handset is a familiar item. It’s a hefty type 164 (GPO number), made of
Bakelite, used on generations of telephones made from the 1930s until the late
1960s. The base unit is housed in a sturdy metal case, supported by a pair of
detachable angled desk stands with four rubber feet. However, it’s clear where
the money was spent, inside the case. The elaborate switchgear and buzzer are
fine examples of early to mid-twentieth century precision engineering but it’s
the beautifully crafted -- and I use the word advisedly – wiring loom that
steals the show. The skills required to make a bundle of 30 wires look that
elegant and the neat and tidy wiring are sadly lost arts.