Black Intercom Phone Northern Electric 1920s

This is an early black intercom or "party line" phone made by Northern Telecom in Canada in the 1920s or 30s -the patent number on the handset dates to 1923 (then has RD 1935), when Canada's telephone companies pooled their patents. It was used by businesses or for what my father called "a party line." Phone numbers were the same for a number of households so the phone would ring in several homes at once, if you answered first you would wait for the person who was being called to answer before hanging up. To place a call one would pick up the phone and talk to an operator. It is about 5 1/2" tall and 7 1/2" deep, has no phone line and has not been tested.