I honestly don’t know the name of the cigars… When I thought about doing this, I explained to the owner of the cigar shop what I was trying to do, and asked for mild and tight wrapped (because I guessed the added humidity might loosen the leaf) decent cigars. I went solely on their recommendation. I bought four cigars and left one out of the jar so it could be used to see what difference the whiskey infusion makes.
About the phone, It’s not just any old rotary dial…
Its from the 1940s made by General Electric for the Bell system. It’s made out of Bakelite ( polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolan
hydride ) so the handset alone weighs over a full pound. Our local phone system still recognizes pulse signals, so this is the phone that I use most of the time. It’s fun to watch people who have never actually “Dialed” a telephone try to use it.
This phone is in the kitchen.
It’s a Stromberg Carlson 1918 model.
I added pieces from a cheap old rotary telephone, so you can actually answer incoming calls on it. The long wood dowel rod connects the handset cradle to the on/off switch of the ‘modern’ (1960s) electronics. This old phone had been mostly gutted before I got it, so I didn’t feel too bad about tinkering with the inside.
You certainly can’t text with this phone. But you can dial out if you are nimble. You have to tap the headset cradle down in rapid clicks for each number. Two taps for the number 2. Or ten taps for the “Zero”. It’s like you are using Morse code to make a call.
Like I said when I started this thread, I’m a lucky man. For 27 years I’ve had a wife who doesn’t mind that I waste my time with odd projects like these.
CHEERS!
