REPLACEMENT/REPRODUCTION 1ST WESTERN ELECTRIC #6 BLUE BELL DRY CELL POST 1907

Description

The units for sale are reproductions of
the first Western Electric (WE)
Blue Bell
series #6 dry cell battery introduced around 1907.  The National Carbon Company (NCC) introduced the first commercially marketed #6 dry cells around 1896, and was the sole source of dry cells for the auto industry and telephone companies in the early 1900s.
In the early years of production of the #6 dry cells, the negative terminals were screw binding post type and the center terminals were on extended carbon slab post.  The 1908 WE Catalog has an image of
this version of Blue Bell
dry cell with screw binding posts terminals in addition to dry cells from NCC and other sources.  The 1916 WE Catalog does not list this version, and states that the screw terminal version was still being offered as an alternative ordering option to the Fahnestock Clip version.
I
f you have a WE 317 Cathedral Top/Picture Frame Front (CT/PFF) wall phone (1907-1908) this reproduction dry cell would certainly be historically correct for display inside.  Original manufacture of these phones included spaded battery leads.  The WE 1910
"Improved Blue Bell" #6 reproduction is also listed on my site.
These dry cell reproductions are configured to produce 1.5V each with two D-Cell battery holders (wired in parallel), and feature
top access
to allow easy replacement of the batteries (not included) when necessary.
Dry cell d
imensions (6-1/2”H X 2-5/8” Dia.), weight (2 lbs. W/D-cells), label graphics and colors are nominally consistent with the original battery of this era equipped with screw terminals.
The tops are potted with
sealing wax which is similar in appearance to Pitch which was used in the original production
.