Gray 75-A
Published: 3/28/2014
A rare and beautiful model the Gray 75-A. It was made by Gray for the Automatic Electric company. This antique paystation is very early, one of the first made for the Strowger System. It was probably made around the same time as the 50A or early 50G models. The upper housing is cast iron with no dial cup cut in. Mounted to the front is the "shoe" which houses the transmitter assembly as well as the dial. The dial, transmitter and receiver are Automatic Electric. The coin gauge is the early cast bronze type. Note the small instruction card holder on the front of the phone! The lock that holds the upper housing in place is a 10-E which utilizes a flat key. The lower housing is steel with "The Gray Telephone Paystation Company" name on it but no second line with the place of manufacture like most models. The vault door is an early flat stamped steel type with an 11A lock on it. The door has a small tag riveted to it that is stamped with the same number as the key for the vault lock. The backboard is cast iron, it has a long wood terminal strip attached to it. The paystation is a 5 cent pre-pay model. It has an early Western Electric coin relay which functions to collect or return coins that were deposited into the chute. Apparently Gray didn't produce coin relays for early paystations, probably because Western Electric held the patents. See the article on the Gray 750 model, it is very similar but made up for post-pay service.