1936 Ford Telephone Truck

[47fordguy]

Evening everyone, I'd thought I share some before and after photos of my grandfather's 1936 Ford Telephone Truck in memory of his recent passing. Many of you know him as Bob or user Teltruck. He was very proud of this truck as it was his father's and it is fully stocked. It is one of five phone trucks he owned.

[ford38v8]

Thank you for sharing, and sorry for your loss. I remember seeing those in use back in the day, and always loved the color and the Ma Bell on the side!

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by 47fordkid

Evening everyone, I'd thought I share some before and after photos of my grandfather's 1936 Ford Telephone Truck in memory of his recent passing. Many of you know him as Bob or user Teltruck. He was very proud of this truck as it was his father's and it is fully stocked. It is one of five phone trucks he owned.

[47topless]

Your grandpa looks like a cool guy.
Your post reminds me of the "party Line" that we were on as a kid, living in the country. When you would make a call, no matter how "careful" the others on the party line would be, you could hear several join you to listen in on your conversation. Seems very harmless now but was very annoying back then.

[flatford8]

Sorry for your loss.....your grandfather had a great looking truck!.....always nice to see one of the “specialty” trucks saved !!...........Mark

[Jeff/Illinois]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

I'm sorry for your loss. Sincerest sympathies.

Neat truck, please keep it in the family. Looks pretty solid, good '35 or '36 Ford pickups, in stock condition, aren't that easy to find. Your grandfather would be proud for you guys to carry on with it

[sugarmaker]

Our condolences, His truck are awesome. Hope you can continue to enjoy them too.
Regards,
Chris

[ssffnomad]

Great Family Story .
Great Pictures.
Party Line - yep . Remember
So looking at Passenger side pic , on the Trailer.
Does the Axle location to Fender look correct ?
Maybe they used aftermarket work bodies , not specific to Wheelbase ?
Stretch

[ford38v8]

Originally Posted by ssffnomad

Great Family Story .
Great Pictures.
Party Line - yep . Remember
So looking at Passenger side pic , on the Trailer.
Does the Axle location to Fender look correct ?
Maybe they used aftermarket work bodies , not specific to Wheelbase ?
Stretch

I don't see what you described, but I believe that phone trucks were delivered minus the bed, and a specialty bed was installed.

[cas3]

Had a party line here when I bought the place in 77. 4 of us on the line, and yup, the old bag down the road would listen in !

[A bones]

Originally Posted by ssffnomad

Great Family Story .
Great Pictures.
Party Line - yep . Remember
So looking at Passenger side pic , on the Trailer.
Does the Axle location to Fender look correct ?
Maybe they used aftermarket work bodies , not specific to Wheelbase ?
Stretch

Seems to me,,, tell me I'm wrong,,, The cause of your question may be that Dad's legs are covering up the second tire.
They run a pair in tandem, each side
Sure us a Pretty truck.
Dad knew what he was doing

[GB SISSON]

I had a conversation with your grandpa, can't remember if it was on the phone or private message here on the Barn. Your grandpa worked for the phone company in New Bedford Mass and remembered my uncle Clifford Tripp who also worked there. Clifford lived in Mattapoisett, where my dad was from and my mom was from New Bedford. I recalled my uncle describing the huge roof trusses in the main shop building and how the square nuts and bolt heads were all aligned square to the world. He described this attention to detail as 'Iron Worker's Dress'. Your grandpa remembered this. Sorry to hear we lost another great ol Ford guy, but am encouraged that you have signed up here. We can keep Gramp's truck running by helping you with repairs or adjustments as needed. Oh, we also had a 4 party line until 1981 when one of the listeners (click) turned me into the phone company for running a business on a residential line. Beautiful truck and welcome aboard. GB

[Newc]

There is another one nr Portland, Or with the correct trailer. Needing restoration. Owned by a Early V8er tho. Newc

[47fordguy]

Originally Posted by ssffnomad

Great Family Story .
Great Pictures.
Party Line - yep . Remember
So looking at Passenger side pic , on the Trailer.
Does the Axle location to Fender look correct ?
Maybe they used aftermarket work bodies , not specific to Wheelbase ?
Stretch

I see what you mean. Looking at another I photo I have of the driver's side of the truck on the trailer, the back fender looks normal to the tire. I think the back fender on the passenger's side was replaced at some point.
The back fenders on the truck now are different then the originals, as the originals would've been cut rather flush with the bottom of the bottom of the phone bed instead of the longer, rounder end that the fenders have on the regular trucks.

[47fordguy]

Great to hear everyone, he loved the company and the people he worked with. Next project is to get the truck going again and the '47 Ford Super Deluxe Convertible that he left to me. Thank you.

[Bob36]

hello, im new to the Barn, very nice truck, condolences on your grandfather. i can appreciate his work on the 36 truck. Ive a 1936 telephone truck as well, been in work for 45 years, or i should say has been in the garage for that long.

[Flathead Fever]

Neat phone truck. I was a phone company mechanic for 30-years so I can relate to it.

[petehoovie]

Originally Posted by Flathead Fever

Neat phone truck. I was a phone company mechanic for 30-years so I can relate to it.

[Flathead Fever]

Hey Pete, I wish I had your god like powers to enlarge photos. That garage was built in 1950, in San Bernardino, CA. There were still few flathead tools there when I arrived fresh out of high school in 1980. It started off as Cal Water and Telephone with green trucks, Then General telephone (GTE) with mustard and white painted trucks, then silver trucks ,then all white trucks, then it switched to Verizon and now its Frontier. I will never be able to buy a silver or white vehicle again it would cause PTSD. That Weaver twin post hoist would lift 36,000 lbs. The trucks would sway back and forth when they reach the top. You sign a document every year, drop a truck lose your job. The San Andreas earthquake fault is right there. We used to joke about should we runout of that old brick building or grab the hoist cylinder. The trucks can't fall straight down. You had to have a smog license because we did the state inspections in-house. Another document you signed, let your smog license expire and lose your job in 60-days. I had 17 ASE licenses, Smog License, Class A truck license with a hazmat endorsement. all of that for the whopping sum of $32.00 an hour by the time I retired. That shop had six bays with five hoists. When I arrived, it had around 400 vehicles, a supervisor, five mechanics and four helpers. They kept downsizing until each supervisor had ten garages, the helpers were all let go. My last two years' I ended up in a three-bay garage in Hemet, CA with 157 vehicles working by myself at night. No time to goof off like in the early years. Nobody to prank at night. We had a lot of fun in the early years. Most of us ended up with blown-out shoulders from working overhead so much. I've had three shoulder surgeries and now I get lidocaine injections in the left one every few months. Two back surgeries, they fused my lower vertebrates, the discs were gone, and it was bone on bone. The only thing I will bend over for is if I drop my daily hydrocodone. My fingers are starting to curve like a roller coaster at Six Flags. Working on all that stuff beat the crap out of me. We used to jump off the sides of those bins on those boom trucks rather than walk to the back. Lift that entire booms off with forklifts to replace rotation bearings. It takes everything you have to stand one of those wheels and tires up. My toes are mangled from steel toe boots for 30-years. France just raised the retirement age to 70 and I was thinking, not all jobs are created equal, I was worn-out at 50.

[A bones]

Originally Posted by Flathead Fever

Hey Pete, I wish I had your god like powers to enlarge photos. That garage was built in 1950, in San Bernardino, CA. There were still few flathead tools there when I arrived fresh out of high school in 1980. It started off as Cal Water and Telephone with green trucks, Then General telephone (GTE) with mustard and white painted trucks, then silver trucks ,then all white trucks, then it switched to Verizon and now its Frontier. I will never be able to buy a silver or white vehicle again it would cause PTSD. . I've had three shoulder surgeries and now I get lidocaine injections in the left one every few months. Two back surgeries, they fused my lower vertebrates, the discs were gone, and it was bone on bone. The only thing I will bend over for is if I drop my daily hydrocodone. My fingers are starting to curve like a roller coaster at Six Flags. Working on all that stuff beat the crap out of me. We used to jump off the sides of those bins on those boom trucks rather than walk to the back. Lift that entire booms off with forklifts to replace rotation bearings. It takes everything you have to stand one of those wheels and tires up. My toes are mangled from steel toe boots for 30-years. France just raised the retirement age to 70 and I was thinking, not all jobs are created equal, I was worn-out at 50.

Thanks F F, You make me feel good about my physical state.
I did not think any one could