Prior to the 1980s the UK telephone system was administered by the Post Office (Kingston upon Hull excepted) and all subscriber equipment (i.e. your phone) was leased by them. As a result, this equipment was highly standardised and produced by various manufacturers to a strict specification – and choice was limited.
After the evolutionary process during the early decades, the middle part of the 20th century saw comparatively little change in the basic design of the telephone (although to be fair, substantial developments at the exchange end of things occurred during this period). The 300 series, introduced during the 1930s, was the first ‘modern’ landline phone with an integral bell (prior to this, desktop phones required a separate bell box). This was superseded at the end of the 1950s by the 700 series which, by dint of existing through the culturally rich period from Beatlemania to New Romantics inclusive, has become somewhat iconic. Then the privatisation and deregulation of the 1980s brought forth a vast range of equipment available for purchase – not all of which could be connected legitimately!
The three oldest items seen here have been around since I was a kid – Dad got hold of them from somewhere (possibly work) and brought them home. We quickly discovered the a 4½ or 6 volt battery was all that was needed to talk to each other but getting them to ring properly required equipment that was way out of our reach! The 722 Trimphone was acquired when it became surplus after my parents converted to the modern plug and socket system, and I have absolutely no idea where the discoloured 746 came from!
The great thing about old phones is that every one has a code stamped on the bottom stating the model number, who made it and when (q.v.). So, the oldest one I have (bottom right) is a type 332 manufactured by the wonderfully-named Telephone Manufacturing Company in 1958. I have on more than one occasion thought about getting it up and running but that would involve replacing its cotton-covered line cord with something rather less authentic.
The 706 (top left) has sadly suffered some damage – I think it was present when first acquired but I can’t help feeling that it has unfortunately been made worse in transit during one of the several house moves since then. It’s a very early version, manufactured by Ericsson in 1959, and the transmitter and receiver are the same as those in the 332. Plastics technology was still quite young at that time and this particular case material has no doubt made it more susceptible to damage. Later versions used a more resilient plastic.
The 746 was the 1970s successor to the 706 and can be identified by a recess behind the handset cradle allowing the unit to be easily carried. The bottom-left one was manufactured by GEC-AEI Telecommunications in 1972 whilst the top-right one was made in 1976 at the Pye telephone factory in Airdrie. Close examination reveals that the cradles have different shapes; this was actually a ‘tweak’ by the Post Office design team and is nothing to do with manufacturers’ variations – as I said, they were all produced to strict specifications. Apparently, users were putting the handset back in a position where it didn’t press down the hook switch – although I for one can’t work out how! – and the revised design seen on the 1976 model provides a pronounced ‘channel’ for the handset to locate in order to resolve this problem.
The newer 746 has seen a serious amount of sunlight, cigarette smoke or both, but a degree of discolouration seems to be inevitable after nearly half a century because the other one is now more like ‘two-tone brown’ rather than the specified ‘two-tone grey’.
Finally we come to the 722 (centre). This one is actually a 2/722, denoting a later model and once again from GEC-AEI Telecommunications, dating from 1978. For some reason the Trimphone was grouped under ‘700 Series’ even though for the most part it’s a completely different animal. It was designed from the outset to be carried around (the first Trimphones pre-date the 746), with the handset rest becoming a handle when the phone is in use. Also with portability in mind, these phones came with a long, partially coiled line cord.
The dial still lights up, albeit extremely faintly, whilst the innovative tone ringer did of course become near-universal from the 1980s onwards. However, none of these newer models can compare with the original Trimphone sound with its distinctive ‘rattly’ quality. No prizes for guessing the 20th Century Relic ringtone!
The older 746 was fitted with a modern line cord back in the 1980s and, having got the phones out for photographing, I couldn’t resist plugging it in. Much to my surprise it still works perfectly after decades of disuse – indeed, the dials on all these phones seem to work OK (perhaps I’m too used to tape recorder mechanisms…). But I was probably even more astounded by my local exchange still accepting this method of dialling – does anyone use it these days? Of course, calling today’s 11-digit numbers in this way is a truly laborious process; we have to remember that not only were numbers shorter back then but there were also local dialling codes where one or two digits would get you through to the neighbouring exchange.
It’s a sobering thought that those under the age of 40 are unlikely to remember dial phones, but for the older generation (which the passage of time is dragging me kicking and screaming into!) it seems like only yesterday since they were around!
The Technojunk Files 