Red telephone » The Memory Box Project

Description:

Red rotary dial telephone from the 1960s/70s. Telephones were run as a public service and the General Post Office (GPO) became the monopoly supplier of telephones in 1912, from which people would rent the lines and the phones they had in their houses. The model pictured was a 700 series (possibly a 706F) made from bakelite plastic and available in 7 different colours. The label on the front shows that the number to dial for the emergency services is 999 and 100 for the operator. After rotary dial telephones came push-button models and Trimphones and then in the 1990s came the first mobile phones.

Key theme(s):

Home & GardenWork

More information:

Date	1960s, 1970s
Material(s)	Plastic
Item number	MBPO225

Questions to help you remember using this item

Have you used a phone like this? If so, what colour was it?
What other types of phones have you used over the years?
What sort of phone do you like the best?

User Stories

I remember it taking ages to dial a number with a rotary dial phone and how annoying it was if you got one of the digits wrong and then had to start again from scratch!

Dawn (volunteer)