PHONE COLLECTORS GROUP REDIALS NORTHERN KENTUCKY

Contact: Ray Kotke
517-230-6730 (m)

PHONE COLLECTORS GROUP REDIALS NORTHERN KENTUCKY

Erlanger, KY/August 14, 2007—The 13th Annual Fall Show of Telephone Collectors International (TCI) takes place August 31 through September 2nd at the Cincinnati-Airport Holiday Inn in Erlanger.

"It's TCI's 20th Anniversary celebration," said show host Ray Kotke. "The show will feature special working displays of early 20th Century switchboards complete with working telephones attached. The very first telephone dial, introduced to the public in 1892 in LaPorte, IN by Almon B. Strowger, will also be displayed. Interestingly enough, Strowger, a mortician, was driven to invent the dialing device because he was convinced that telephone operators of the day were giving his business to his competition (it was later proven that they were)."

Kotke says phones from the late 1800s through the 1970s will be displayed from old wood "crankers" to the modern "60 & 70s modern" multi-colored phones. Live demonstrations of restoration techniques and tips are taking place as well. You can even bring your antique telephones to the show for a free "Road Show style" appraisal.

Approximately 250 people are expected to take in the weekend, some from as far away as Australia, England and Hawaii.

The show is open to all Telephone Club members Friday, August 31st through Sunday, September 2nd, starting with a social gathering that Friday at 6 p.m. The event is open to the public 10-4 on Saturday, September 1st. Kotke says the group targets both young and old alike: antique dealers, nostalgia buffs and those fascinated by "technical gadgets" and old working phones. TCI offers "junior" memberships to aspiring collectors, ages 17 and under.

For more information, go to the group's web site: www.telephonecollectors.org.

The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings and visitor expenditures. The direct economic impact of visitors' spending in Campbell, Kenton and Boone Counties in 2006 was $263 million.