A hundred years ago, the Scout or “any Real Boy” desiring to set up his own private telephone exchange couldn’t go wrong with these telephone sets from the Robbins Manufacturing Company, 1807 North Central Park Avenue, Chicago. For $2, the company would supply two transmitters, two receivers, and a hundred feet of wire. The sets would work over a much longer distance with ordinary bell wire.

For Real Boys desiring a deluxe setup, two wall phones (suitable for grown ups, too) and 300 feet of wire were available for only $6.

The ad ran a hundred years ago this month in the April 1920 issue of Boys’ Life.