Phones Collection

Advert promoting the Post Office Telephone Service. Date: 1932

Example of a woman dialling 999 for the emergency services in a red telephone booth

A long line of telephone switchboards with female operators

1934 G. P. O telephone advertisement
Advertisement for some rather eye-catching handmicrophone instrument in fine colours such as Chinese red, jade green and ivory white. The dial is chromium plated and the flex is silk-covered in grey

Woman on the telephone, postcard
" Hello, are you there?" An early example of cold calling by telemarketers

Early telephones, Verity Electrical Supplies
Early telephones from Verity Electrical Supplies, Aston, Birmingham. 1903

Image of a woman mid-phone conversation, taken from a lifestyle article about living alone. Date: 1954

The Pocket Marconigraph
Predicting the mobile phone - man stranded at sea sends a message on his Pocket Marconigraph Date: 1914

Advert for Telephone Development Association 1929
Less than a crown a week, to rent a telephone, Paying nothing to be installed and pay nothing for calls or to receive. Date: 1929

BELLS / EDISONS T-PHONES
Graham Bells first telephone, hand telephone and long- distance telephone, shown alongside Edisons transmitter, and loud speaking phone. Date: late 19th century

Four gondoliers in their gondolas behind St Marks, Venice
Four gondoliers sit in their gondolas in a canal basin behind St Mark s, Venice, while waiting for tourist passengers. Three of the men wear dark blue striped shirts

The watchroom of Southwark Fire Station, London. Although this had a telephone switchboard serving the adjacent headquarters of the Brigade

Watchroom at Fire Brigade HQ, Southwark
Watchroom at Metropolitan Fire Brigade headquarters in Southwark Bridge Road, with men manning the switchboard and monitoring the fire alarm control board where calls for assistance were received

Women of the Auxiliary Fire Service using a telephone, WW2
Women of the Auxiliary Fire Service using a telephone

London Fire Brigade street fire alarm and telephone point
In 1904 the Metropolitan Fire Brigade changed its name to the London Fire Brigade. Less than one year later it was possible for crews to call in to Southwark Headquarters from a remote point

Poster, Use the Transatlantic Telephone, Europe Welcomes You, designed by Eric C Owen. 1937

Poster, The Telephone in Business, showing a female telephone operator and a map of England. 20th century

tapping Telephone Line
French soldiers tapping telephone wires and listening into conversations at Geneva Junction to hear how disarmament proposals will affect them. Date: early 1920s

Dial 999 display in an LFB exhibition
A Dial 999 display in a London Fire Brigade exhibition with details on either side of the services available

Woman dialling 999 in a public telephone box, London
Woman dialling 999 in a public telephone box near the Royal Festival Hall on Londons South Bank, used for a fire service exhibition. Date: 1957

Firefighter using telephone point in street
Firefighter using a telephone point (marked Ambulance Call) in the street

Three Brownies in Baden Powell House, London
Three Brownies on telephones in Baden Powell House, South Kensington, London, with a portrait of Lord Baden Powell behind them. Date: circa 1960s

Number Engaged by Pat Charles
An impression by Pat Charles of the latest fiances and fiancees to announce their engagement in 1932, all interconnected by telephone lines

Training in taking telephone messages
Men of the London Fire Brigade being trained in taking telephone messages. Date: 1930

Men working at watchroom telephone switchboard
Firefighters working on the watchroom telephone switchboard at Southwark Fire Station. Date: circa 1909

Advert for G. P. O telephone 1933
Why not include it among your Christmas gifts ? Date: 1933

London Fire Brigade Headquarters telephone switchboard

London Fire Brigade telephone switchboard operator
A London Fire Brigade telephone switchboard operator

LCC-LFB Brigade headquarters station watchroom
The watchroom of Southwark Fire Station. Although this had a telephone switchboard serving the adjacent headquarters of the Brigade

LCC-MFB Firemen in switchboard & control room
Watchroom at Metropolitan Fire Brigade headquarters in Southwark Bridge Road, with men manning the switchboard and monitoring the fire alarm control board where calls for assistance were received

NFS radio operator at Ealing HQ (34 D), WW2
NFS radio operator at the radio desk, Fire Force Area 34, Ealing HQ (34 D). On the board in front of her is the listing for the London Regional Area call signs

Home Office-NFS Fire Force mobile telecom unit, WW2
NFS firewoman control officer using the London Fire Brigade Portable Telephone Cabinet (Home Office)

Talking on the telephone, postcard
" I don t know why ou botherd to send me a postcard, a phone call would have been much quicker!" - the declining post card industry pokes fun at itself in 1915. 1915

An example of an early telephone switchboard

Girls on the telephone
Fabulous illustration showing a number of teenage girls, all wearing 1950s style checked capri pants and boat neck sweaters while lounging around chatting on the phone. Date: 1950s

Metropolitan Police communications room, London
View of a Metropolitan Police communications room, showing three officers sitting at desks on the right. There are several push button telephones

A computer technician with data tape
A computer technician stretches out a piece of data recording tape, from the ICT Atlas I computing system. A colleague speaks on the telephone in the background. Photograph by Heinz Zinram

The Right Number by Pierrot
Illustration of an elegant flapper girl, dressed seemingly only in lingerie speaking on the telephone

Universal Exhibition, Paris
Members of the public testing out telephones and phonographs at the L Exposition Universelle in Paris

Matrons Decorate Ward
Two matrons decorate a hospital ward for Christmas

Switchboard operators wearing gas-masks
Photograph showing switchboard operators in Faraday Building, City, London, wearing special gas-masks with ear-phones and mouthpieces; a precautionary

Young Girl on the Line
A young girl on the line holding the ear-phones to the side of her head

Santa Phones
Santa Claus receives a phone call from a young admirer

Futuristic cine-phono-telegraph
A futuristic cine-phono-telegraph, which allows people to speak over the telephone and see each other on a screen at the same time

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