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Author Topic: Vintage Telephones.  (Read 17651 times)

Offline MVacs

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Vintage Telephones.
« on: February 10, 2016, 10:16:34 pm »
So I was perusing my garage stock (as you do) at home for interesting things that might look good in the new shop. And I unearthed a vintage telephone I picked up somewhere on my travels.......



Oh, I might have that - polished up and fettled by our chaps - on my new desk - a retro vibe - I thought..........

"But wait!"  :o  says the businessman voice in your head. These must be forty years old now. Maybe trendy types with little beards and red trousers in loft apartments in East London are falling over themselves paying £100 for these?

So off you trundle to eBay to do some due diligence and market research...... then some Googling. Lo and behold, there are phone forums out there with blokes that know as much about phones as we here do about our Dysons......

So I found out my funky 1967 black type is called a 768, defined as an early one by the angular bits on it. And it has had a resistor upgrade and a BT plug to make it work with modern systems. What you need. Now I am on fire trawling eBay to determine the best "buy it now price" for my example.  8)

We'll polish it up, test it, and get forty drinking vouchers in exchange for my trusty 1967 768 original example with the original Manchester round paper inside......

But wait! The copyright has expired. China is now making faithful replicas along with GPO junction boxes, selling at circa £40. Selling like hot cakes....... (mental note: Check those out when in China next)

But mine is original, right? So worth more, and off I go to search on eBay "vintage original telephones".

And then I found the Genie. No, not one in a bottle, one like this......



And I decided that was way cooler than mine. Original Buzby era British Telecom logo....Proper 70's vibe.......

Back into eBay to see what Genies are worth.......

Oh, just £16?

So to cut a long story short, I went online to sell a phone I maybe didn't need, and ended up buying another I didn't really need so now I have two.  :D



I showed my wife my latest spiffy addition. Despite the fact we have some super Abba era furniture, and a very funky large glass table imported from Sweden, and some Louis Poulsen rather splendid light fittings that this phone suits perfectly, and it is the perfect addition, and is a complimentary period feature 70's phone - type as used by Samantha Jones in SATC - she is unconvinced. When it arrives is cleaned up and santitised, she will look at it.......

Failing which: Phone for sale.

Funny how that works. Go on to flog something, end up buying something else. The spirit of eBay!

"Do we really need ancient appliances?" she asked, as I was eyeing up an alcove thinking how good an old radiogram might sound there with Tony Blackburn belting out of it on a Saturday........


Offline beko1987

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2016, 10:27:40 pm »
I used to collect the odd telephone.  I had 2 8768's (768's that had been converted by bt in the early 80s) and a trimfone,  we used to have it in the bedroom at the flat.

Lost interest eventually,  but made a pretty penny on them at the car boot sale,  got £35 for the trimfone with no questions asked!

I always look out for them,  dunno why but I want a gpo spec one,  with the gpo junction box still intsct,  hidden under layers of paint just waiting ting to be cleaned up!

I cant rember the forum I went on,  its probably the same one you found.  Some nice chap sent me a wall bracket for one of the phones,  wouldnt take any money for it either.

I couldnt use them now though,  I imagine they would scare the shit out of eva if it rang late at night.

Infact my mum has a green 768, I got it from the car boot for her years ago as she wanted one for a 1920s table they have.  The circuits went bad though and it stopped working.  Last I saw the cable had been chopped off and it is in Evas toy box  :censored:
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Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2016, 10:35:49 pm »
I have quit a few old phones and used to use them including the trim phones still love a dial, but when I went to virgin  :censored: they don't work that will be fixed in November when I go back to sky. I enjoyed rewireing them to work on new system.  I really want a 50s Bakelite but they are quite expensive especially white £200 and green £2000  :o

Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2016, 10:37:52 pm »
Oh you can get a converter for pulse only phones to make them tone. You can then use them for the lovely options menus  :'(


Offline MVacs

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2016, 10:42:52 pm »
A Trimfone!  :bow:  That was the one I was looking for when I bought the Genie.



But even they have been copied now.

These are on my list next time I am out in China!

Now I need a Trimfone.  :-X

Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2016, 10:45:54 pm »
I have a white one and a blue one both with dials.  Did you know the trim phone dial is radioactive?  It has a thin glass tube around it so it glowed in the dark can't remember what gas it used .

Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2016, 10:50:15 pm »
tritium

Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2016, 10:52:03 pm »

Offline MVacs

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2016, 10:52:18 pm »
Infact my mum has a green 768, I got it from the car boot for her years ago as she wanted one for a 1920s table they have.  The circuits went bad though and it stopped working.  Last I saw the cable had been chopped off and it is in Evas toy box  :censored:

This started when we watched a programme the other night where a family went back to the 60's and 70's for the weekend. They had two teenage girls in a phone box dialling up music. Our daughter (7) couldn't grasp the idea of "dialling" on a phone (are we so old?) and wanted to try. So I delved into my man cave and triumphantly produced the dial 768 phone. That she then had a go of.......

Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2016, 10:57:59 pm »
I watched that, I also remember dial a disk, and dreading dads reaction when the phone bill came  :underchair:

Offline MVacs

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2016, 11:04:50 pm »
I have a white one and a blue one both with dials.  Did you know the trim phone dial is radioactive?  It has a thin glass tube around it so it glowed in the dark can't remember what gas it used .

Well sell me one in exchange for some Dyson goodies.  :money: 8) :icon_nod:

Offline Madrat

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2016, 11:12:54 pm »
Never. Sorry  ;D

Offline beko1987

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #12 on: February 11, 2016, 03:34:04 pm »
I'll keep my eye open at car boots then, always after filters, belts etc!
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Offline RustySkull

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #13 on: February 11, 2016, 08:27:09 pm »
I used to collect Telephones, then I got rid of them all and it's just CB Radios now lol.
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Offline Eddie Honda

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Re: Vintage Telephones.
« Reply #14 on: February 13, 2016, 12:48:10 pm »
I used to have a red 768 in the late 1990s. Bought it for about 35 quid at the time.

The bell it on was rather deafening compared to the modern crap I have around the house.

Phone bills were kept low as it was a PITA to dial long numbers.  ;D


 

 

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