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MY AL CAPONE MUSEUM | F.A.Q.'S | Al Capone's Personal Telephone | Al Capone Framed Signature | Al Capone's Silver Tray | Interesting items retrieved from Al Capone's Lexington office suite and hallway | Alton Hotel Relics | 7244 Prairie Avenue | The Capone era Cicero, Illinois | The Four Deuces (2222 South Wabash) | Al Capone's Bathroom Tile From The Lexington Hotel | Inside The Lexington Hotel | Geraldo's Capone Vault Grand Opening | Lexington's Destruction | X Marks the Spot magazine | Capone Magazines and Booklets | Capone Videos | Capone Books | Knick Knacks | Capone's Chicago | Chicago photos | Capone Documents | Capone Photographs | Capone Photographs 2 | Capone Photographs 3 | My History channel Shoot | Gravesites | Gravesites 2 | Capone the man | Capone at the Ballpark | Al Capone's Funeral | The St. Valentine's Day Massacre | The Massacre Pt.2 | Massacre Victim's Stats. | Massacre News blurbs | Some Theories on the Valentine Massacre | Discounted Valentine Massacre theories | Valentine Killers? | The St. Valentine's Day Massacre Wall bricks | The St. Valentine Massacre guns today | The Adonis Social Club Incident | When, Where and How did they die? | Mugshots | Gangster facts and side stories | The Obituaries | Gangster talk | Gangster Molls | William Hale Thompson | Peter Von Frantzius | The Chicago Typewriter | Gangster Hitspots | Mae Capone | Louise Rolfe | Alberto Anselmi and Giovanni Scalise | Frank Parker | William Niemoth | Jack Guzik | Samuel "Golf bag"Hunt | Jake Lingle | Frankie Yale | Samoots Ammatuna | Jack Zuta | Edward David Vogel | Johnny Torrio | Joe E. Lewis | Rocco DeGrazia | Machine Gun Jack McGurn | Willie Heeney | James "Fur" Sammons | Jack "Three fingered" White | George "Red" Barker | Anthony "Tough Tony" Capezio | Frank Nitti | Dean Charles O'Banion | Samuel Morton | George Clarence Moran | Hymie Weiss | Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci | Fred "Killer" Burke | Fred Goetz | Joe Aiello | Edward "Spike" O'Donnell | The Genna brothers | Angelo La Mantia | Frank Rio | Ragtime Joe Howard | Hinky Dink and Bathouse John | Sol Van Praag | Theodore "The Greek" Anton | Joseph P. Bergl | Edward Tancl | Al Capone's tax trial and downfall | Al in Jail | Mario Gomes | Bill Helmer | Rose Keefe | John J. Binder | Robert Gallo as Al Capone | Rick Mattix | Mr. Joe Walters | Gangster articles | Newspapers of the day | Newspapers part Two | Newspapers Part Three | Newspapers Part Four | The Green Mill | Colosimo's | Alcatraz | Alcatraz Part 2 | Gangster sites today | Gangster Sites part 2 | Dead Gangsters | Origins of the Scars | Collecting Al Capone? | The truth about Al Capone's signature | Al Capone and other Gangster related books | Links | Neat Stuff on Capone | About me | Contact Me
Al Capone's Personal Telephone
Al Capone's brass candlestick telephone.
(Mario Gomes collection)
This amazing piece of Capone history comes from Al Capone's Florida Palm Island estate. This 1915 patented Kellogg telephone comes to the Myalcaponemuseum courtesy of one outstanding individual named Mr. Tom Dooley. Special thanks to him for understanding history, and for making it possible for me to share this item with all the history buffs out there. Tom's mother was a nurse hired by the Capone family in the early 1940's to take care of Al, who was ill due to the complications of his advanced syphillis.
Mary, who didn't drive at the time, would visit the Palm Island, a man made island via bus and a jitney (Taxi).
Mary Lee (Turner) Brissette L.P.N.
(Photo courtesy of Mr. Tom Dooley)
Mary Lee Turner was a Dade county licensed practical nurse. (L.P.N.) At that time, she divided her duties between private home care and nursing home care.
Mr. Tom Dooley and his mom, Mary Lee Brissette in 1968, after Tom's tour of duty in Vietnam.
(Photo courtesy of Mr. Tom Dooley)
On her various visits to the Capone estate, she kept noticing the shiney brass phone from the roaring twenties. It was no longer the main phone, and was only being used as an extension.
Al Capone's telephone.
(Mario Gomes collection)
The Capone's took notice. When replacement of the old style telephones, with the newer dial phones were made at Biscayne bay area, Mary was presented with this old treasure as a parting momento by the Capone family. Just a little something to remember Al by.
Top view
(Mario Gomes collection)
Under is the phone company tag along with the Capone name and residence address.
(Mario Gomes collection)
The Biscayne area and Palm Island in particular, had a switchboard set up which received incoming and sent outgoing calls to / from the residents living there. In the homes, these phones were connected to a box called a"subset", which had a battery, bell, and magneto crank.
Palm Island Capone residence phone.( Probably in use circa 1928 to late 1930's).
(Mario Gomes collection)
Mary kept the Capone family phone for many years on a shelf, and in the 1960's she remarried to become Mary Lee Brissette. Mary continued to practice her love of nursing and went to work at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Her nursing experience spanned 40 years.
In 1968, her son Mr. Tom Dooley, returned from valiant service in Vietnam.
Mary gave her son the phone as a gift.
A caring Mary Lee Brissette and some little friends.
(Photo courtesy of Mr. Tom Dooley)
This phone was used by Al and his family and probably guests and hoodlums who visited there between 1928 to 1940.
Congress Hotel where Jake Guzik called Al in Florida, before and after the massacre.
((Mario Gomes collection. Postcard courtesy of pal Bob Richards)
In John Kobler's book , it is stated by police records that Jake Guzik had placed calls to Al in Florida from his Congress hotel room in Chicago, before and after the St. Valentine's massacre in Chicago. Today, it's not uncommon for households to have a phone in every room, but back then, one was the norm for one family. This phone was probably the one that was used for that fateful day in 1929.
Palm Island, Biscayne Bay telephone
20015 Geograph, Made in USA
(Mario Gomes collection)
About the telephone, it was made by the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply co.
In 1872, Milo G. Kellogg had been an engineer at Gray and Barton, a Chicago company manufacturing telegraph equipment. He later was employed as engineer and superintendant at the Western Electric plant in Cicero.
In 1897, Kellogg leaves to start his own company, the Kellogg Switchboard and Supply co.
Kellogg name
(Mario Gomes collection)
My special thanks and immense gratitude to Tom Dooley and his mom, the late Mary Lee Brissette. Without them, this page would not have been possible.
More views
Front
(Mario Gomes collection)
Back view
(Mario Gomes collection)
Back view of frayed cord and receiver.
(Mario Gomes collection)
Patent dates viewed from top.
Aug.16 1904, Sept 13,1904 Jan 26,1915
(Mario Gomes collection)
Left side
(Mario Gomes collection)
Kellogg transmitter
(Mario Gomes collection)
Right side
(Mario Gomes collection)
Close up of base
(Mario Gomes collection)
Hello? Hello? Capone residence, Al speaking!
(Mario Gomes collection)
Sworn affadavit of Capone phone obtained from Mr. Tom Dooley.
(Mario Gomes collection)
We know it came from Capone's Florida home, but how about for the phone itself?
After seeing some conflicting comments about this model on a message board,
I contacted phone expert "Kellogg" Mike Neale about the said phone.
I'm glad I did! Here's what he had to say.
"The telephone is a Western Electric as is the receiver. The transmitter has been replaced with a Kellogg (a very common practice, the replacement parts were taken off of another phone). Western Electric or Kellogg did NOT make brass telephones, they WERE either painted black or nickle plated. The brass WE and Kellogg phones you see have been stripped of their paint or the nickle plate has worn off (as in the link you have posted for a brass WE). The spot on your phone that is turning green is because the varnish applied to the phone after it was polished became chipped. If you want to know the model of your WE it will be stamped on the back side of the square portion of the neck (or perch as they were called)."
Looking from hi res photographs I sent him, Mike suggested two possiblities.
One) that the phone company may have painted the phone gold for Al's decor or tastes. The varnished gold over time (80 years) may have paled to an old brass finished look. Neale stated that many small phone companies did that and other wild things to their phones to appease customers back then. That would explain alot as Al did have some gaudy tastes as was seen in his Lexington hotel suite.
(Gold, Pink ,Green and Purple).
Two) Upon closer inspection, Neale feels it is more than likely that the phone was simply stripped to the brass, polished and varnished for the Capone's by the Biscayne phone company and that it's 80 years has rendered it to it's present state. The varnish was used to deter tarnishing and to protect the brass from the green corrosion caused by the salt air (from the sea water). He has seen this same type of green corrosion before.The corrosion has appeared where the varnish has worn off or has been chipped.
The evidence of wear off is seen where the phone is handled in the middle of the receiver (stick part) and below at the back of the perch.
Back of transmitter. Western Electric 20AL model stamped at the neck or perch.
(Mario Gomes collection)
Special thanks to Mike Neale for his time and expertise.You can visit Mike Neale's impressive site at
1929 ad for Western Electric Company.
(Mario Gomes collection)
Here below are extremely well documented and intelligent sites that are well worth the visit for any old candlestick phone afficionado and links pertaining to Western electric and Kellogg collection. Some Kellogg history as to who is the man that worked at Western company in Cicero, Illinois developing phones and related apparatus.
The first link shows when Western Electric secretly controlled Kellogg.
Western Electric plant in Cicero,Illinois after a work day.
(Mario Gomes collection)
Hawthorne works,Western Electric.
(Mario Gomes collection)
First Posted APRIL 2007