"Real" Telephones

[Sundae]

The telephone I grew up with, and therefore my idea of a classic. Heavy and had a real "ring".

[Pangloss62]

That's a nice telephone, Sundae. Looks a lot like AT&Ts 500 series. Did England have one big phone monopoly like us? Did the Government regulate the phone companies?

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Pangloss62

Did England have one big phone monopoly like us? Did the Government regulate the phone companies?

Yes, we had what was known as the GPO - General Post Office, which was responsible for telephones as well as post.

The GPO stopped being a Government Department in 1969 and telecommunications separated from post, although the Post Office Corporation retained its monopoly.

British Telecom was created in 1980 and from 1981 onwards other companies were licensed. The company was privatised in 1984.

I had forgotten that the telephones were leased from the Post Office and were therefore built to last until reading this thread! I also remember the day we had ours fitted - until then, we'd had a pile of 2p pieces in the kitchen in case of emergency, for the phone box on the corner (999 calls are free, but obviously other people need to be contacted).

[Pangloss62]

British Telecom. I knew that but forgot. BT had some nice phones as I recall. Michael Caine in Get Carter used a cool phone. AT&T (Ma Bell) introduced color to their phones in 1956. A few experimental, two-tone phones were produced. There's a yellow and black one I could die for, but then I would be dead and not be able to enjoy it.