On This Day in Telephone History December 20TH 1878 the first Francis J. Blake Transmitter (to which the Bell Telephone Company had acquired rights in November) was issued for commercial use. The Blake transmitter, like the Edison, was an improvement upon the loose contact principle. Both Edison’s and Blake’s more important patent applications upon this subject covered specific materials for the contacts. All of these patents (including Berliner’s) were for methods of producing undulating current described in Bell’s original patent. The Blake transmitter is important in Bell history because of the competition with Western Union companies under way at this particular time. Edison’s (Western Union) transmitter was better than Bell’s original and Blake’s was better than Edison’s. As long as competition lasted, it gave the Bell company an advantage in securing subscribers.
