Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

PTR-870 CELLPHONE WITH CASE, CHARGER, & MANUAL'S

Date Range From

1995

Date Range To

2000

Materials

PLASTIC, PAPER, LEATHERETTE

No. Pieces

7

Height

5.1

Length

34.6

Width

4.5

Description

A. BLACK “JRC” PTR-870 CELLPHONE. TEAL, GREEN, RED, AND WHITE BUTTONS. SPEAKER AND DIGITAL SCREEN AT TOP OF CELLPHONE. DUST PRESENT AROUND SPEAKER. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 2.8CM HGT X 17.9CM LTH X 4.5CM WTH B. BLACK LEATHERETTE CASE FOR PTR-870 CELLPHONE WITH WOVEN NYLON WRIST STRAP. WHITE TAG ON INSIDE “JRC PTR-870 14315056,” BACK OF CASE HAS DEBOSSED “NATURAL LEATHER MADE IN THE U.S.A.” OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 5.1CM HGT X 34.6CM LTH X 4.5CM WTH C. BLACK DESKTOP CHARGER WITH TWO PORTS. TWO INDICATOR LIGHTS “BATTERY” AND “RADIO” AT FRONT OF CHARGER. BLACK STICKER ON BOTTOM OF CHARGER, “DESKTOP CHARGER… MODEL NO: NBB-976 PART NO: 40115145…MADE IN KOREA.” OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 4.1CM HGT X 11.4CM LTH X 7.0CM WTH D. BLACK AC ADAPTOR WITH BLACK AND WHITE WIRE. BLACK STICKER ON BACK OF ADAPTOR “AC ADAPTOR PART NO: 40190017 MODEL NO: W41D-J500-4/1…MADE IN CHINA.” SAFETY WARNING EMBOSSED ON FRONT OF ADAPTOR, DEBOSSED UNDERNEATH WARNING “1694.” DUST PRESENT IN EDGES OF ADAPTOR. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 5.8CM HGT X 123.0CM LTH X 4.9CM WTH E. WHITE MANUAL FOR PTR-870. RED SQUARE DESIGN IN TOP LEFT CORNER OF COVER WITH BLACK AND RED PRINTED TITLE, “CELLULAR TELEPHONE USER GUIDE PTR 870.” IMAGE OF A PTR-870 CELLPHONE UNDERNEATH TITLE. BACK COVER HAS CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JRC CANADA AND JRC U.S.A. CANADA INFORMATION: “JRC CANADA INC. 450-31 ST. NORTH LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA CANADA T1H 3Z3…” BOTTOM LEFT CORNER, “GU-00050006.” FRONT COVER TOP RIGHT CORNER BENT, STAINING ALONG EDGES OF PAGES, BACK COVER HAS SOME SCRATCHES EMBOSSED INTO COVER. OVERALL GOOD CONDITION. 3.6CM HGT X 17.8CM LTH X 10.1CM WTH F. WHITE WARRANTY REGISTRATION CARDS. TWO CARDS CONNECTED AND FOLDED TOGETHER. ONE CARD PRINTED ON OUTSIDE: “CANADIAN CUSTOMERS ONLY…PRINTED IN CANADA WC-00000020,” WITH RETURN ADDRESS PRINTED ON INSIDE: “JRC CANADA INC. 450 31 ST N LETHBRIDGE AN T1H 9Z9.” SECOND CARD HAS RETURN ADDRESS PRINTED ON OUTSIDE: “BUISNESS REPLY MAIL…JRC INTERNATIONAL INC. ATT: WARRANTY SERVICE DEPT…” AND PRINTED ON INSIDE: “U.S. CUSTOMERS ONLY…” OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 14.9CM LTH X 9.8CM WTH G. WHITE MANUAL FOR BATTERY ELIMINATOR ACCESSORY. BLACK SQUARE DESIGN IN TOP LEFT CORNER AND BLACK PRINTED TITLE: “CELLULAR ACCESSORY OPERATING GUIDE BATTERY ELIMINATOR.” IMAGE OF A BATTERY ELIMINATOR UNDERNEATH TITLE. PRINTED BOTTOM OF FRONT COVER, “FOR USE WITH MODELS PTR-830, PTR-850 AND PTR-870.” BACK COVER HAS CONTACT INFORMATION FOR JRC CANADA AND JRC U.S.A. CANADA INFORMATION SAME AS COMPONENT E. BOTTOM LEFT CORNER, “GO-00150006.” OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 9.0CM LTH X 5.0CM WTH

Subjects

TELECOMMUNICATION T&E

Historical Association

BUSINESS

INDUSTRY

History

ON DECEMBER 10, 2020, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN SPOKE WITH BRIAN CHRISTENSEN ABOUT HIS DONATION OF VARIOUS NOVATEL AND JAPAN RADIO COMPANY ELECTRONICS (JRC). BRIAN CHRISTENSEN STARTED WORKING AT NOVATEL IN 1985 AS A TEST ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIST BEFORE TAKING A PROCESS MANAGEMENT JOB AT THE NOVATEL PERIPHERAL PLANT MID-1988, CHRISTENSEN LEFT HIS POSITION AT NOVATEL/JRC BY JANUARY 2000. THE INFORMATION BELOW IS DERIVED FROM THAT INTERVIEW AND A SERIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD NEWSPAPER ARTICLES. CHRISTENSEN EXPLAINED: “…I HAD A PTR-870 FOR YEARS. NOT THE SAME ONE [CONTINUOUSLY], BUT I HAD – I WAS NEVER WITHOUT A PTR-870. I’VE HAD A CELL PHONE SINCE LIKE, 1986… IN VARIOUS FORMS… I CAN TELL YOU THAT MOST PEOPLE IN ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT HAD THESE PHONES AT HOME…” CHRISTENSEN RECALLED: “…[ALSO] WE HAD [PERCEIVED QUALITY] ISSUES… I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES WITH THE PRODUCT QUALITY AND STUFF LIKE THAT. I HAVE TALKED TO SO MANY PEOPLE THAT’LL TELL YOU THE OPPOSITE. THESE PTR-870 HANDHELDS - WE’D GO IN THE BAR AFTER HOCKEY AND STUFF LIKE THAT, AND PEOPLE WOULD BE HAVING THEIR CELLPHONE [WITH THEM]. I’D GRAB MY 870 AND I WOULD SMACK IT THREE TIMES ON THE EDGE OF THE BAR TABLE AND SAY, ‘GIVE ME YOUR PHONE.’ NOBODY WOULD GIVE ME THEIR PHONE. I MUST HAVE DID THAT I DON’T KNOW HOW MANY TIMES.” CHRISTENSEN EXPANDED UPON HOW HE CAME INTO POSSESSION OF THE VARIOUS ELECTRONICS: “…WHEN YOU’RE IN MANAGEMENT OR TEST ENGINEERING IN THIS ENVIRONMENT, YOU’RE TESTING YOUR PRODUCT. THIS IS YOURS; GO HOME; USE IT, RIGHT?... ALL OF THIS STUFF COST ME NOTHING. THIS IS NOT STUFF COMING OFF A SHELF, LIKE IT’S NOT OFF A PRODUCTION SHELF. THIS IS ENGINEERING TYPE STUFF…” CHRISTENSEN REFLECTED ON WHY HE KEPT THESE ELECTRONICS: “…I SHOULDN’T SAY KNOWING, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY’D BE COLLECTIBLE OR SOMETHING… IT WAS A NEW INDUSTRY. LIKE THEY – THIS THING DIDN’T EXIST. MAYBE A PERSON SHOULD TRY TO CAPTURE A LITTLE BIT OF THAT…” CHRISTENSEN REITERATED: “…[THESE ELECTRONICS WERE] FOR MANAGERS AND FOR TESTING AND STUFF LIKE THAT… WE TOOK AND WE USED THIS STUFF BECAUSE, HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT OR HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE BUILDING; HOW DO YOU KNOW, IF YOU’RE NOT PUTTING THIS STUFF THROUGH THE PACES?… [THE PHONE TECHNOLOGY REFLECTS] DIFFERENT TYPE OF FIRMWARES AND STUFF LIKE THAT INSIDE THESE PHONES. BUT THERE’S NO SENSE BRINGING THEM BACK TO THE POINT WHERE - YOU’RE NOT GONNA REBUILD THEM; YOU’RE NOT GONNA TEAR THEM APART, REBUILD THEM AND TRY TO DO SOMETHING ELSE, BECAUSE WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE HAS CHANGED? YOU’VE MOVED ON. BUT, YOU ARE PUTTING YOUR PRODUCT THROUGH ITS PACES.” CHRISTENSEN REFLECTED ON THE VARIOUS HANDSETS: “…I’VE PROBABLY SEEN A MILLION BLOODY HANDSETS IN MY LIFETIME. YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT VARIATIONS – ALL THESE ARE, THE SAME SKINS THEY WOULD PULL OUT AND CHANGE THE KEYPAD, YOU KNOW? DIFFERENT KEYPAD. AND WE BUILT, OH, DOZENS OF THEM. BUT YOU CAN SEE THERE’S QUITE A BIT OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS HANDSET FROM THE ‘80S AND THAT, VERSUS THE HANDSETS THAT ARE ON THE BAG PHONE AND THAT. THEY’RE MORE STREAMLINED, DIFFERENT.” ACCORDING TO AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED OCTOBER 4, 1983, NOVATEL WAS A CALGARY-BASED COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY FORMED BETWEEN ‘NOVA.,’ AN ALBERTA ENERGY COPORATION, AND ‘ALBERTA GOVERNMENT TELEPHONES (AGT).’ IN A JANUARY 24, 1984, ARTICLE IT WAS REPORTED THAT AMONGST EMPLOYEE LAYOFFS, AEL MICROTEL SOLD THEIR BUILDING IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA TO NOVATEL. IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN A SEPTEMBER 11, 1985, ARTICLE THAT NOVATEL WILL OFFICIALLY OPEN THEIR MAIN MANUFACTURING FACILITY IN THE 450 31ST N BUILDING (PREVIOUSLY AEL MICROTEL). NOVATEL LATER EXPANDED TWICE ACCORDING TO JUNE 27, 1989, AND JULY 24, 1990, ARTICLES. AGT PRIVATIZED IN 1990 AND BECAME KNOWN AS THE ‘TELUS CORPORATION’ IN AN AUGUST 1, 1990, ANNOUNCEMENT; NOVATEL WAS THEN SOLD BY TELUS BACK TO THE ALBERTA GOVERNMENT ACCORDING TO A JANUARY 3, 1991, ARTICLE. BY MARCH 19, 1991, IT WAS REPORTED THAT THE LETHBRIDGE NOVATEL MANUFACTURING PLANT LAID 222 OF ITS EMPLOYEES OFF. MAY 2, 1991, AND MAY 6, 1991, ARTICLES ANNOUNCED FURTHER LAYOFFS OF CLOSE TO 400 WORKERS AND SHUT DOWN THE CALGARY MANUFACTURING PLANT. ACCORDING TO MAY 15, 1992, MAY 22, 1992, AND MARCH 15, 1994, ARTICLES: NOVATEL WAS SOLD BY THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT TO A HONG KONG-BASED ENTREPRENEUR, HORST PUDWILL, AND NORTHERN TELECOM; PUDWILL BOUGHT THE CELLULAR HANDSET MANUFACTURING SIDE OF THE COMPANY AND NORTHERN TELECOM BOUGHT THE CELLULAR SYSTEM SIDE OF THE COMPANY. IT WAS ANNOUNCED IN AN APRIL 10, 1994, ARTICLE THAT JAPANESE RADIO COMPANY (JRC) OFFICIALLY BOUGHT NOVATEL AND MADE THE LETHBRIDGE MANUFACTURING PLANT THE CANADIAN HEADQUARTERS FOR JRC. ON NOVEMBER 16, 1999, AN ARTICLE ANNOUNCED THAT JRC WAS STILL LOOKING FOR A BUYER FOR THE LETHBRIDGE MANUFACTURING FACILITY. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION INCLUDING ARTICLES FROM THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, OR TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20200035004

Acquisition Date

2020-12

Collection

Museum

Less detail