When Winsted went to rotary dial in 1949 . . .

WINSTED, MN — What happened to all the old hand-crank phones in Winsted?

Some of them ended up at the South Lake dump, which was then set alight, according to a photo posted by Mark Ollig on his Facebook. “What would they be worth now?” Mark said.

This picture was taken in July of 1953.  It shows the operator switchboard plus many magneto hand crank phones burning at the dump along McLeod C. Rd. 9.    Winsted Telephone Company converted to rotary dial (not dial up) in 1949.  The old phones were burned because there was a lack of storage space for them.  Photo courtesy of Mark Ollig.