The Telecommunications Heritage Group

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The THG does not give valuations on telephones or related items, so please do not ask.

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Who we are

What we do &

How to join the THG ?

Preserving our Heritage

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Communications Industry?

We are very keen to hear from more women (and men) interested in telecommunications heritage, and people who are willing to research historical information, and present it in a lively format. There must be plenty of memories out there just waiting to be recorded by those who have a flair for writing and creativity.

Some members are fanatical about telephone boxes, which seem to appear in a variety of colours, red, black, green, blue and even light-straw! Kiosk expert is Tony Inglis of Unicorn Kiosk Restorations...

Check out some more Telephone Kiosks

Some of us collect telephones...

Here Laurence Rudolf tells us about the

The Neophone & Tele No.162

Click for Forthcoming Events

THG Events Line: See Journal No.62 for details of new phone number.

What is Strowger?

Strowger is an electromechanical telephone switching system...

Related Discussion Groups are...

Among the members of the THG we have a wealth of knowledge, both practical and written, to help with our hobby...

You will find some of this in the Information Section

and more in the Latest Links of interest added to the site.

Connected Earth - Founded by BT

A vision to develop and build a network of real and virtual museums to nurture and encourage the future preservation of, access to and interest in the nation's telecommunications heritage.

In the days when telephone numbers were only four digits and linked numbering schemes were still being planned, local dialling codes were prolific. Use of the codes provided a simple way to call neighbouring exchanges without going via the operator, but were specific to each exchange and could not be dialled nationally, unlike the STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialling) system which had started its 20 year phased introduction...

More

 March 2008

Here are the very latest issues of Telecoms Heritage Journal.

THJ No. 61 Winter 2007
THJ No. 62 Spring 2008 (just out)

Look at Life - Swingin' London

Reviewed by Andrew Emmerson

Here's something different: a fascinating documentary that has some fascinating telephone content for those with eyes to see it.

If you visited the cinema in the 1960s you'll remember the Look At Life featurettes that accompanied the 'B Feature' and the commercials to make it a full evening's entertainment. Professionally made by the Rank Organisation in colour, these short, lively documentaries took an alternative look at daily life. A prodigious number of them were made, with a new film screened in Odeon cinemas every week.

Sixteen of them have been assembled on one DVD under the title Look At Life: Swingin' London and for me at least, they really do recall the spirit of this short period of exuberance in the late 1960s. The films have been restored very well, without the unfortunate fading that many prints exhibit.

Most viewers will find something of interest on this DVD. With 16 films to choose from, you can explore London's street markets with Sid James, see what supermarkets looked like 40 years ago, browse the trendy boutiques of Carnaby Street and dine at the top of the Post Office Tower.

For those who appreciate fine or forgotten telephones there's much more though! Rising To High Office depicts life in the new Shell Centre building. Here we view not only the new switchboard but also see an office girl dialling the letters HAIR on a black 1/706 telephone to book an appointment in the company's in-house hair salon.

The film Fire Over London is about the operation of the London Fire Brigade. In an office's switchboard room we see one of the hideous T&N green and ivory telephones supplied by General Telephone Systems. Another shot deep in the bowels of St Paul's Cathedral gives a glimpse of a two-tone grey ATE 'Coffin Phone' as used on Communications Systems private exchange systems.

In Goodbye Piccadilly, made at the time when the London County Council announced plans to convert Piccadilly Circus into an ultra-modern concrete plaza, we see telephone cables installed in a Post Office cable subway along with many shots of the tube station.

Eating High is all about the Post Office Tower and is not the usual documentary that we see. Anyone into ivory N625 Plansets will get their fill and the entire production is very nostalgic for those who remember the location's rich magenta furnishings and the strange uniforms worn by the staff.

Through all the films we see dozens of black 232 and 332 phones in their natural habitat as well as loads of lovely old buses, lorries, cars and street furniture. Unless you can resist this tempting menu of delights, buy this DVD as fast as possible!

Look At Life: Swinging London. Issued on DVD by DD Video at £10.99. Runs for 2hours 12 minutes.

Our hobby just doesn't seem to attract many writers, so it's not every day that a new book appears for telephone collectors. For this reason any book on our subject would be something to be pleased about but the enlarged second edition of Ralph Meyer's book Old-Time Telephones! is particularly welcome news.

The first edition was pretty good and soon sold out. Now released under a new publisher's imprint, the book has been revised and expanded to cover nearly everything a telephone collector would want. The first edition was good but this new version is even better. Don't just take my word for it; the book carries the endorsement of the THG's U.S. counterparts, the Antique Telephone Collectors' Association and Telephone Collectors International. Even better, it's on sale at an absolute bargain price.

So what do you get for your money and why would you want to buy it? The book makes a solid read, measuring 11 x 8.5 inches and three quarters of an inch thick. It's printed on good quality paper, with clear type and sharp-focussed illustrations. This is no cheapskate, home-made production! The book traces, from an American viewpoint, the history of the telephone from earliest times down to the 1980s, along with technical descriptions, circuits and explanatories, restoration and repair techniques and a price guide for collectors. All in all you get 22 chapters and 264 pages of authoritative, sound information. The only part that will become out of date is the price guide but even this will continue to indicate which phones are relatively common and which are the more collectable items.

There are photos or diagrams on almost every page, so even newcomers can form a rapid impression of what's what in the world of classic telephones. Probably the only complaints you might make are that the photos are not in colour (this would double or triple the cost of the book), that there's more information than you can digest in one read (in that case just skim the text for now) or that there's more technology than you can absorb (again, skip the bits you don't understand at this stage).

The text is straightforward, well written and extremely comprehensive. It's true that all the telephones are U.S. models but many British phones were based on (or imitations of) American originals, so the book nevertheless has considerable value for British readers. The technical explanations, troubleshooting hints and test & repair techniques apply to British and European phones without any exceptions. On the other hand, the bibliography, though very detailed, relates only to American phones and omits several worthy British books that we might expect to see mentioned.

At full price, this is a book that every telephone collector ought to possess and at the discount price mentioned below it's such a bargain that only a fool would not buy it.

Old-Time Telephones! Design, History and Restoration by Ralph O. Meyer. Published by Schiffer Books and distributed in Britain by Bushwood Books Ltd, £24.95. ISBN 0-7643-2282-6, 264 pages, paperback. Available online from www.amazon.co.uk for just £14.32

This is the second edition (expanded and revised) of the book which was originally entitled 'Old Time Telephones - Technology, Restoration and Repair by the same author.

www.bushwoodbooks.co.uk/book_template.php?isbn=0764322826

A member writes...

"I happened to find this book 'telephone talk' advertised by Dave Dockray in Australia.

The book arrived very quickly and I am absolutely thrilled with it. It must have been a labour of love for the author to compile. It is a private small printing that is self published. It covers all aspects of telephone restoration. French polishing-Bakelite and metal polishing-DIY Nickel-Plating-Plastic Restoration. Also covered is telephone development and a lot more.

It contains 258 pages with colour illustrations on most pages. For the full details see the description and chapters at.

www.telephonetalk.com.au/

I just want to recommend this book to my fellow THG members."

'Hold The Line Please' traces the history of the telephone service in the Midlands from 1879 when Birmingham's first exchange was opened on the corner of New Street and Stephenson Street.

The author (an ex-GPO operator herself) follows the rapid expansion of the telephone service through the first half of the twentieth century to WWII when operators in Birmingham, some as young as 17, heroically kept the service going night and day through the blitz with steel helmets and gas masks at the ready.

(ISBN 1-85858-239-3)

Later chapters deal with training, equipment and the many characters amongst the one thousand operators employed by the GPO at Newhall Street. With a forward by Neil Johannessen.

Available directly from the author for £9.95 (including UK postage & packing):

Sally Southall, Manor Cottage, 250 Station Road, Balsall Common, Coventry, CV7 7EE [address updated Dec 2005]