The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Section 1
The Early Days
It would have been more convenient for me to make this the last section rather than the
first... that way I could have let the whole thing fade into the pre-history of the telephone,
allowing me to be vague about what happened at ‘the start’.This would be the easy way
out... out of what? the fact that it is impossible to track down and document every type of
telephone that has ever existed in the UK. I have therefore attempted to include only the
more well known (in some circles!) instruments from the period up until the Post Office
takeover of the telephone network in 1912, and after this date I have tried to include all
Post Office instruments. In doing this have taken the second easiest way out - admitting
defeat before I start!

The main intention of this book isn’t to be a history of the telephone - more a catalogue of
telephone instruments. If you want history then try the ‘Further Reading’ titles below, how-
ever I will however set the scene with a little necessary background information.

The invention of the telephone is generally accredited to Alexander Graham Bell, and the
year of this invention is generally accepted as 1876. His first telephone was basically a pro-
totype but within months the design of telephones evolved into various forms, most of
which would be instantly recognisable to people today as ‘a telephone’. Many other names
play an important role in the development of the telephone such as Phillip Reis, Thomas
Edison, Francis Blake, David Hughes, Rev Henry Hunnings,Lars Magnus Ericsson and
Louis John Crossley to name but a few.

The early history of the telephone is also one of company rivalry with legal battles over
patents, copyrights and mergers. At first in the UK many small companies were formed to
provide disjointed telephone service in the larger cities and towns (the Post Office also had
exchanges). Gradually however some companies amalgamated and formed the larger ‘Na-
tional Telephone Company’ and here the first attempts to standardise telephone equipment
began.

In 1880 the government had granted the Post Office sole right to run the telephone system
but the private companies continued under license from the Post Office until 1912 when the
Post Office took over the entire system (with the exception of Hull). The Post Office made
huge efforts to standardise telephone equipment across the UK, however the National
Telephone Company legacy was great and a lot of their telephones continued to be used
by the Post Office. Some National Telephone Company telephone models were renum-
bered and incorporated into the Post Office range. The Post Office quite often removed/
painted over any decorative parts to these instruments before supplying them to subscrib-
ers. It was an ‘image’ sort of thing for them.

The Early Days

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Further information:-

‘Candlestick/Pillar/Pedestal Telephones’ Telecoms Heritage Journal Issue 28 Page 35/36.

The above item was researched by Jim Foster who has painstakingly gone through the
Telcoms Heritage Group ‘N’ Diagram collection to discover the identities of many little known
‘candlestick’ style telephones. Until this article most of the items with the date N=19xx were
not in this identifier. Well done Jim and thanks!

‘Vintage Telephones of the World’ by P.J. Povey & R.A.J. Earl

This is a well written and heavily illustrated book which covers the early development of
the telephone right up to the 1950’s. It documents not only the ‘normal’ telephones but also
other more unusual instruments made for specific purposes - military etc. Telephones from
various countries are featured and the evolution of the design of telephone instruments can
be followed as technology evolved. The text is full of interesting information not easily found
elsewhere. This book is a serious ‘must’ for anyone truly interested in old telephones. (Can be
obtained from BT Museum as well as other outlets).

Please Give The Yard a Call, Watson by Gar Donnelson (BT Museum)
A short booklet on the development of the telephone in the UK incorporating the ex-
ploits of Mr Sherlock Holmes and his associate, Dr Watson, focused on the year 1902.

Finally...

The early history of the telephone is a complex subject and I make no attempt to cover it
here. Although Alexander Graham Bell was the first person to publicly demonstate a tele-
phone capable of transmitting intelligible speech there were many others who played an im-
portant role in those early days. Prior to Bell’s invention others nearly ‘made it’! For instance
Philipp Reis contsructed a ‘telephon’ in 1860 which nearly made the grade, but probably
sounded more like a bumble bee in a jam jar and thus lost him the title as ‘first’.

If you are really interested in the early history I do recommend ‘Vintage Telephones of the
World’. With books like this already available it is pointless for me to recycle the hard work al-
ready done by their authors.

Bell’s prototype telephones of 1875 and 1876 NTC Logo on a telephone case.

The Early Days

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

|====|====|===========|======|=======================================================================|
|Manu|Xref| Type |Figure| Comments : |
|====|====|===========|======|=======================================================================|
| The first few entries in this section are National Telephone Company Telephones. |
|E | | |1-59a | (WI) Pay station. ETL Mag. plug in handset unique to ETL c1892-1898|
|E | | |1-NT01| (WI) LB used by NTC made by Ericssons c1900|
|E | | |1-NT02| (TI) Magneto Made for NTC and nicknamed ‘Sabrina’ Fig 1-NT02 shows |
| | | | | a version with handset, a version with a fixed transmitter mount-|
| | | | | ed on top of the instrument was also available. c1900|
|W | | |1-NT03| (WI) Blake ‘Three Box’ Type. Battery case at bottom, Blake transmitter|
| | | | | centre, Bell/mag/switchook on top. Fig 1-NT04 not ‘proper’ but |
| | | | | shows generic inst. Imported from USA used by NTC etc. c1880-1900|
| | | |1-NT04| (WI) CB wall instrument used by NTC - sometimes had ‘spike’ on top |
| | | | | This was replaced by BPO with the less elaborate Tele No 1 below.|
| Post Office Instuments Start Here! |
|BPO | | 1 | 1-01 | (WI) CB. Earlier form of Tele.101 & tele 121 |
| | | | | [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p305]|
|BPO | | 2 | 1-02 | (TI) Candlestick CB fuw BS No 1. earlier form of Tele.150 but no |
| | | | | provision made for addition of dial [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p307]|
| | | | | BS No.1, Xmitter No 1. N=1912|
|BPO | | 3 | 1-03 | (WI) Standard CBS sim Tele.11 but different internal conns. Mag only |
| | | | | used for plan working. Wooden case. [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p298]|
|BPO | | 4 | 1-04 | (TI) Candlestick Standard CBS No 1 inst if used with BS No 5. N=1914|
| | | | | Standard CBS No 2 & 3 inst or LB connected to CB Exch if used with BS |
| | | | | No 15 Standard Mag with hand gen & BS [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p295]|
|BPO | | 5 | | no information |
|BPO | | 6 | | no information |
|BPO | | 10 | | Candlestick type BS No 1,Xmitter No 1, CB. N=1916|
|BPO | | 11 (old) | 1-11a| (WI) Magneto. Wooden [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p293]|
|BPO | | 11 | 1-11b| (WI) CBS/Mag [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p294]|
|BPO | | 14 | 1-14 | (TI) Mag Skeleton Type - the only info/evidence is fig 1-14! |
|BPO | | 16 | 1-16 | (TI) Ericsson Skeleton inst. Mag [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p296]|
|BPO | | 16L | | (TI) Similar to type 16 but with dial |
|BPO | | 26 | 1-26 | (TI) Preceded Tele.4 as a standard CBS No 1 or Mag table set. |
| | | | | Self contained except for LB [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p300]|
|BPO | | 28 | 1-28 | Handset with microphone cut-off switch |
|BPO | | 29 | 1-29 | House Telephone with 3 way switch & trembler bell (uses tele No. 30) |
|BPO | | 30 | 1-30 | Handset used with house telephone systems |
|BPO | | 31 | 1-31 | House Telephone with 4 way switch & trembler bell (uses tele No. 30) |
|BPO | | 33 | 1-33 | House Telephone with 5 way switch & trembler bell (uses tele No. 30) |
|BPO | | 34 | | Handset with talk key |
|BPO | | 35 | 1-35 | House Telephone with 10 way switch & trembler bell (uses tele No. 30) |
|BPO | | 42 | | (TI) uses HS No 34 |
|BPO | | 44 | n/a | see section 17 |
|BPO | | 44B | n/a | see section 17 |
|BPO | | 47 Mk 4 | 1-47 | for direct telephone lines between buildings and fire stations |
|BPO | | 59 | 1-59a| (WI) CBS or Mag N.T.C. rewired[Telephony,Herbert&Procter p295] |
| | | | | (WI) as above but with bell below desk. |
| | | | 1-59b| (WI) as above but with new Microtelephone |
|BPO | | 69 | | (WI) Standard CBS No 2 & 3 inst. sim Tele.59 except no Magneto |
|BPO | | 75 | 1-75 | (WI) Cab Rank telephone (later superseded by Tele 145) |
|BPO | | 78 | 1-78 | (TI) Adjustable table tele. CB |
|BPO | | 81 Mk 3 | | (WI) Special Fire Tele for CB/Auto Exch |
|BPO | | 81 Mk 235 | 1-81 | (WI) Special Fire Tele for CB Exch |
|BPO | | 81 Mk 4 | n/a | see section 2 |
|BPO | | 82 | | Candlestick. Auto for extension plan 5 & 5A. N=1918|
|BPO | | | | BS No 1, Xmitter No 1, Dial No 8. |
|BPO | | 83 | n/a | see section 16 (flameproof) |
|BPO | | 88 Mk NT13| 1-88a| (TI) Mag/CBS with HS |
|BPO | | 88 Mk NT13| 1-88b| (TI) Mag/CBS with new microtelephone |
|BPO | | 89 | | (WI) |
|BPO | | 90 | | (TI) tele 88 without generator |
|BPO | | 94 | 1-94 | (HS) CB micro-telephone for use of Supervisor in CB exch |
|BPO | | 97 | | Street fire alarm tele |
|BPO | | 99 | | Street fire alarm tele with generator |
|BPO | | 101 |1-121c| (WI) CB earlier form of and sim to Tele.121 but cannot add dial |
|BPO | | 103 | | special fire tele Mag exch’s |
|BPO | | 113 | | (WI) only info = see Tele 136 |

The Early Days

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|====|====|===========|======|=======================================================================|
|Manu|Xref| Type |Figure| Comments : |
|====|====|===========|======|=======================================================================|
|BPO | | 115 | | With box coin collecting No (various) |
|BPO | | 119 | | With box coin collecting No 13. Auto - superseded by tele 123 |
|BPO | | 120 | | Candlestick. CB with switch in base for extn plan 9. N=1920|
|BPO | | | | BS No 1, Xmitter No 1. |
|BPO |0121| 121 |1-121a| (WI) for use in CB & Auto. CB version has a notice frame which |
| | | |1-121b| covers an aperture for accommodating a dial. ‘N’ diagram for |
| | | |1-121c| MK2 shows dial blanking plate instead of notice frame. |
| | | | | 1000 ohm bell coil, walnut case [Telephony, Herbert & Procter p302]|
|BPO | | 123 | | With box coin collecting No 13. Supersedes Tele 119 |
|BPO | | 124 | | Candlestick. Auto for extension plan 1. N=1920|
|BPO | | | | BS No 1, Xmitter No 1. |
|BPO | | 127 | n/a | see section 16 (flameproof) |
|BPO | | 129 | n/a | see section 16 (flameproof) |
|BPO | | 131 Mk 234|1-121b|(WI) call office ccts w/- box cc no 14 |
|BPO | | 133 | 1-133| (WI) ‘Laryngaphone’ HS is tele 186. CB & Auto |
|BPO | | 134 | | Candlestick. Auto for extension plan 4. |
| | | | | BS No 5 or 15, Xmitter No 2. |
|BPO | | 135 | 1-135| (WI) ‘Laryngaphone’ CBS No 1 & Magneto |
|BPO | | 136 | | Candlestick. Auto for extension use with wall tele 113. N=1918|
|BPO | | | | BS No 56a, Xmitter No 1, Dial No 8. N=1921|
|BPO | | 143 | 1-143| Special Faults |
|BPO | | 145 | 1-145| cab ranks CB/Auto |
|BPO | | 146 | | Candlestick fuw Telephonic Repeater No.9A, BS No.1,Xmitter No.1 |
| | | | | N=1922|
|BPO | | 148 | | as Tele 146 but magneto systems N=1923|
|BPO | | 149 | n/a | see section 16 (flameproof) |
|BPO |0150| 150 | | Candlestick initially CB with dial blank. Later with dial No.10 N=1924|
| | | | | BS No.1, Xmitter No.1 or 22. |
|BPO |0150| 150 mk234 | 1-150| CB/Auto DEL with BS 1 or 25 - a later form of Tele No 2 |
|BPO |0150| 150 LB | | CB [Herbert&Procter p304] |
|BPO | | 151 LB |1-121c| (WI) CBS 1,2,3 & Long lines CB/Auto |
|BPO | | 152A mk2 | 1-152| Teak case fitted with brackets, balance weights etc. For suspension |
| | | | | from special tubular structure in Billingsgate Fish Market. |
| | | | | Includes BS 25, Tele 162 incomplete & Tele 164. |
|BPO | | 153 | n/a | see section 16 (flameproof) |
|BPO | | 154 | 1-150| As Tele 150 but mainly CB use. BS No 21, Xmitter No 2. N=1925|
|BPO | | 154 | 1-150| CB/Mag/CBS 2,3/LB [Telephony,Herbert&Procter p311] |
|BPO | | 156 |1-156a| Candlestick CBS Nos 1,2,3 & mag. uses bell No 21 in auto a eas N=1927|
| | | | | also used BS No.31. Xmitter No.22. Rarely used dial No.10 for auto use|
|BPO | | 156LB |1-156b| Candlestick fuw BS 21 or 31. CBS 1,2,3 & mag - supersedes tele 154 |
|BPO | | 160 | | Candlestick party line with selective metering. N=1928|
| | | | | BS No.22. Xmitter No.22. Dial No 10. |
|BPO | | 174 | | Candlestick fuw Telephonic Repeater No.9A. N=1929|
| | | | | BS No.1. Xmitter No.1. Dial No.10. |
|BPO | | 182 | | Candlestick used with box coin collecting 14A CB & Auto N=1930|
| | | | | BS No.24, Xmitter No.1, Dial No.10. |
|BPO | | 186 | 1-186| ‘Laryngaphone’ handset for Tele 133,135 & 188 |
|BPO | | 188 | 1-188| ‘Laryngaphone’ Candlestick style CB & Auto |
|BPO | | | | |

Note :-
Where a date is shown as ‘N=1900’ this signifies that the date has been taken from the first appearance of the Post Office
‘N’ Diagram and is not the date of manufacture or introduction. Most of these dates were obtained from the article
‘Candlestick/Pillar/Pedestal Telephones’ mentioned in ‘Further Reading’.

Laryngaphone: This name is derived from the word ‘larynx’ and was applied to a type of telephone handset where the mi-
crophone was actually pressed onto the throat and speech vibrations were transferred directly to the microphone rather
than through air. This type of handset was intended for use in noisy situations where background noise would otherwise
have been competing with the callers voice!

The Early Days

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Fig 1-NT01
Fig 1-NT02
Fig 1-NT04
Fig 1-NT03

Fig 1-01 Fig 1-02 Tele 2 Fig 1-03 Fig 1-04

Tele 1 Tele 3 Tele 4

Fig 1-11b Fig 1-14 Tele 14

Fig 1-11a
Tele 11 (old) Tele 11 (new)

The Early Days

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 The Rob Grant (Vaguely British) Telephone Identifier

Note the ornate metalwork on handset cradle

Fig 1-26 Tele 26 of this Tele 26 which probably pre-dates the
less elaborate GPO version (left)
Fig 1-16 Tele 16

Fig 1-28 Fig 1-30 Fig 1-31

Tele 28 Fig 1-29 Tele 30 Tele 31
Tele 29 Fig 1-33 Fig 1-35
Tele 33 Tele 35

Fig 1-47
Tele 47 Fig 1-59b Tele 59 Fig 1-81
Fig 1-59a Tele 59 bell below desk Tele 81 Mk 235

The Early Days

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Fig 1-75
Tele 75
Fig 1-78 Tele 78

Fig 1-94
Fig 1-88b Tele 94
Fig 1-88a
Tele 88 Mk NT with new microtele-
Tele 88 Mk NT
phone

Fig 1-121a Fig 1-121b Fig 1-121c

Various examples of Telephone No 121

(fig 121b is also Tele 131)

The Early Days

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Fig 1-133
Tele 133 Fig 1-135 Tele 135

Fig 1-143 Tele 143

Fig 1-150
Tele 150

Fig 1-152
Fig 1-145 Tele 152
Tele 145

Fig 1-156 Tele 156 Fig 1-186 Tele 186 Fig 1-188 Tele 188

The Early Days

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