THIS IS A GENERAL INFORMATION GUIDE ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS DEFACTO AND IN MOST CASES WILL BE LIMITED TO GPO ‘BRITISH POST OFFICE’ EQUIPMENT

NOTES FOR NON UK READERS

British English & American English, we have different spellings (and some different uses) for many words,

 this guide is written in British English!

TELEPHONES INSTALLED (RENTED) OR PURCHASED IN THE UK AFTER 1980 (APPROX) & / OR WIRED FOR THE CURRENT BRITISH PLUG AND SOCKET SYSTEM (TELEPHONES LISTED AS (CONVERTED) ON EBAY IN THE UK) OBTAIN THEIR RINGING (BELL) CURRENT EXCLUSIVLEY FROM A DEVICE WITHIN THE SUBSCRIBERS MAIN SOCKET. IN MOST CASES ( ALMOST EXCLUSIVLEY ON NEW BUILD TELEPHONES AFTER THIS DATE) THESE TELEPHONES WILL NOT FUNCTION CORRECTLY IF CONNECTED TO NETWORKS OUTSIDE THE UK, THAT IS, THEY WILL NOT RING. SIMPLY CHANGING THE LEAD (LINE CORD) OR FITTING AN ADAPTOR PLUG WILL NOT RECTIFY THE PROBLEM

THE BEST SOLUTION IN THESE CASES IS TO OBTAIN AND FIT A U.K. MASTER SOCKET AT THE LOCATION WHERE YOU INTEND TO USE THE PHONE

IMPORTANT! FITTING SUCH A SOCKET MAY VIOLATE YOUR NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION REGULATIONS YOUR TELCO USER AGREEMENT OR BOTH!

NOTES ON BUYING TELEPHONES

SOME COMMON SENSE IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING, DON'T RUSH IN TO BIDDING JUST BECAUSE IT LOOKS NICE, ASK AS MANY QUESTIONS AS YOU WANT & KEEP COPIES OF THE ANSWERS AS YOU MAY NEED THEM LATER. REMEMBER ALSO THAT SOME SELLERS MAY WELL BELIEVE THEIR ITEM IS ORIGINAL WHEN IN FACT IT MAY NOT BE (YOU ARE BUYING SO YOU FIND OUT). IF YOU ARE BUYING FROM A DEALER EXPECT TO PAY MORE ESPECIALLY ON 'BUY IT NOW' & REMEMBER THAT DOES NOT GUARANTEE IT'S ORIGINAL. FROM EARLY DAYS RIGHT UPTO THE LATE 1950'S GPO CORDS WERE PLAITED (TWISTED CLOTH) USUALLY THREE CORE FOR THE HANDSET & FOUR CORE FOR THE LINE CORD, TRY AND GET NUMBERS, DATES & MANUFACTURER INFORMATION FROM THE PHONE BASE & HANDSET, JUST BECAUSE IT MAY HAVE A DIAL DISK WITH SOMETHING LIKE 'UPTONSNODSBURY 23' DIAL '0 FOR OPERATOR' ON IT, IS NOT, EVIDENCE ENOUGH TO PROVE ANYTHING.

100 - 200 - 300 BAKELITE HANDSETS

 

Above British Bakelite handset markings from 1948 used on ALL British bakelite telephones from 1930's until mid 1970's

USUALLY HAVE A RECESSED OVAL WITH 164 - ‘DATE’ EXAMPLE - ‘ 164  48 ‘ THIS MEANS THE HANDSET WAS MADE IN 1948 IT DOES NOT HOWEVER, MEAN THE TELEPHONE WAS, HANDSETS WITH RAISED OVALS OR OTHER MARKINGS ARE USUALLY THIRD PARTY OR FOREIGN, FOR EXAMPLE ‘ ITI ‘ WOULD BE MODERN AND FROM INDIA. IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT SOME THIRD PARTY EXAMPLES STILL HAVE SOME VALUE, SUCH AS SIEMENS BROS WHICH COULD BE 60 - 70 YEARS OLD.

GPO HANDSET CORDS WERE ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY PLAITED COTTON THESE WERE OFTEN REPLACED BY COILED BLACK PLASTIC TYPES IN THE 1960'S SO IT'S NOT CRITICAL DEPENDING ON YOUR TASTE. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE VERY EARLY 100 SERIES PYRAMID TELEPHONES GPO PHONES NEVER HAD STRAIGHT UN-PLAITED CORDS, THESE WERE WIDELY USED BY PRIVATE TELEPHONE COMPANY’S LIKE ’GEC’ RELIANCE SYSTEM LTD, TELEPHONE RENTALS ETC.

100 - 200 BAKELITE PYRAMID SERIES TELEPHONES ‘Usual type Tele No 1/232’

  

Above (left) a manual version (no dial) of a pyramid, note the pull out base, this was to store access codes for aother towns and cities plus instructions on how to use the phone not all pyramid telephones had this. Above (right) a pyramid with a dial, note the plaited handset cord on both these phones, this was standard on all British Post Office Telephones.

FIRSTLY MOST OF THESE TELEPHONES DID NOT HAVE INTERNAL BELLS BUT INSTEAD HAD A WALL MOUNTING BELL BOX, HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME THAT DID, THESE ARE TALLER AND HAVE A MUCH BIGGER BASE CONTAINING THE BELL AND IN FACT THIS BASE PART IS THE BELL THAT WOULD USUALLY BE FITTED TO THE WALL. IF THE TELEPHONE IS A SMALL PYRAMID TYPE AND BOASTS A BELL IT'S NOT GPO ORIGINAL.

300 SERIES BAKELITE

     

Above an original model 332 telephone, these are very 'Art Deco'

THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF TELEPHONES IN THIS SERIES THE COMMON MODEL BEING THE 332 AND THERE ARE A LOT OF INDIAN COPIES AND THESE ARE USUALLY OF APPALLING QUALITY OFTEN WITH BADLY MOLDED CASES SOMETIMES HAVING ACTUAL BLISTERING (ALSO SEE SECTION ON DIALS) & IF YOU WERE THINKING OF USING AN INDIAN CASE TO REPLACE YOUR BROKEN GPO CASE THINK TWICE BECAUSE THESE CASES ARE MISSING THE VITAL, THREE BRASS CHASSIS FIXING INSERTS, SO LOOK HARD BEFORE COMMITTING AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK THE SELLER QUESTIONS ‘ARE THERE ANY CRACKS OR WHAT'S WRITTEN ON THE HANDSET OR THE BASE’ FOR EXAMPLE, THIS MAY BE YOUR ONLY WAY TO REJECT IT UNDER ‘NOT AS DESCRIBED’ ALSO IF IT'S OF ANY VALUE USE PAYPAL AS A GENUINE DISPUTE CAN BE RESOLVED A LOT QUICKER, OF COURSE IF YOU PAY A FEW POUNDS YOU CANT EXPECT ‘AS NEW ‘ AND AS AN ORNAMENT EVEN AN INDIAN PHONE IS OK.

 

700 SERIES PLASTIC CONSTRUCTION

      

          706 type (1959-1968)              746 type (late 1960's early 1980's)

NO 700 SERIES TELEPHONES WERE EVER MADE FROM BAKELITE, IF YOU FIND ONE DESCRIBED AS SUCH IT'S FALSE

THESE WERE THE DIRECT REPLACEMENT FOR THE 200 & 300 BAKELITE TYPE AND FIRST APPEARED IN 1959 WITH METAL No 12 DIALS CONTAINING NO NUMBERS WITHIN THE FINGER HOLES BUT INSTEAD HAD SILVER GREY ARROWS

( NOTE 300 TYPES WERE ISSUED WELL INTO THE 1960's )

706

A 706 CAN BE IDENTIFIED IN A PICTURE BY THE ROUNDED HUMPS IN FRONT OF THE HANDSET REST & HAVING TWO SCREWS ON TOP OF THE CASE WHERE THE HANDSET RESTS.

EARLY 706's HAD A THICKER PLASTIC MORE BRITTLE CASE & WERE ISSUED WITH A PLASTIC BASE UNTIL ABOUT 1961 AFTER THAT ALL NEW ISSUES HAD METAL BASES BUT STILL HAD THE BRITTLE CASE, AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME THE METAL DIALS WERE REPLACED WITH TYPE No21 COLOUR COORDINATED PLASTIC DIALS, THESE DIALS ALSO HAD NO NUMBERS INSIDE THE FINGER HOLES BUT INSTEAD HAD ARROWS POINTING OUT TOWARDS THE DIAL SURROUND "Q-RING" WHICH CONTAINED THE NUMBERS & LETTERS. ALL GPO 706's AT THIS TIME WERE THE 706L VARIANT AS STD WAS IN FULL SWING AND IT WAS INTENDED TO IMPLEMENT A NATIONAL LETTER/FIGURE DIALING SCHEME, EARLY STD CODES WERE DERIVED IN THIS MANNER, HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES:

CHELMSFORD 0245 - 0CM5 --- CLACTON-ON-SEA 0255 - 0CL5 --- COLCHESTER 0206 - 0CO6 --- IPSWICH 0473 - 0IP3

SO IF YOU FIND A 706 TELEPHONE WITH JUST NUMBERS AND NO LETTERS AROUND ITS Q-RING IT'S NOT GOING TO BE AN ORIGINAL GPO PHONE BUT RATHER A PRIVATE INTERNAL TELEPHONE, SOME BUT NOT ALL OF THESE WERE OF VERY BASIC CONSTRUCTION RANGING FROM HAVING NO REGULATORS INSTALLED TO A COMPLETE REWIRE! THE ONLY EXCEPTION I KNOW WERE TELEPHONES USED IN SOME HOTELS WHERE NEXT TO THE FIGURE 8 FOR EXAMPLE YOU MIGHT FIND WRITTEN ROOM SERVICE. FROM ABOUT 1967-68 706 TELEPHONES WERE ISSUED / RE-ISSUED WITH A NEWER TYPE OF DIAL HAVING A TRANSPARENT FINGER PLATE CONTAINING THE NUMBERS WITHIN THE DIAL & A Q-RING WITH NO MARKINGS THIS BEING THE 706F THEY ALSO HAD THINNER PLASTIC CASE WHICH WAS LESS BRITTLE. THE OTHER VERSION YOU COULD POSSIBLY COME ACROSS IS A 706CB THIS WOULD HAVE NO DIAL

 

711

WALL VERSION OF 706 TYPE TELEPHONE WHERE THE HANDSET RESTS ACROSS THE TOP

746 MK1

CAN BE IDENTIFIED BY HAVING SLOPES GOING DOWN TOWARD THE HANDSET & HAVING A SINGLE CASE SCREW FIXING AT THE REAR WHERE THE CORDS ENTER THE PHONE, BUT AS THESE WERE ALSO ISSUED BY PRIVATE TELEPHONE COMPANIES THE ONLY WAY TO PROVE ITS A GPO ONE IS BY THE MARKINGS.

THESE  STARTED TO APPEAR AROUND 1967 AS A CHEAPER REPLACEMENT FOR THE 706, THERE IS NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE FROM THE OUTSIDE BUT THE INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT WAS TOTALLY REVAMPED. THE ONLY THINGS I WOULD SAY ABOUT THESE ARE THEY HAVE A MUCH CHEAPER FEEL ABOUT THEM & THE HANDSET IS EASILY KNOCKED OFF. MOST BUT NOT ALL 746's ISSUED BY PRIVATE TELEPHONE COMPANIES HAD NO REGULATORS FITTED AND THEREFORE PERFORM POORLY ON LINES THAT ARE DISTANT FROM THE EXCHANGE.

746MK2

ISSUED FROM ABOUT 1974 ONWARDS IS IDENTICAL TO THE MK1 EXCEPTING THE HUMPS HAVE RETURNED IN FRONT OF THE HANDSET LIKE THE 706 BUT THEY HAVE FLATTENED TOPS, LATER VERSIONS, LATE 1970's ONWARDS HAD PLASTIC BASES

741

WALL VERSION OF 746 TYPE TELEPHONE WHERE THE HANDSET RESTS ACROSS THE TOP, LATER VERSIONS, LATE 1970's ONWARDS HAD PLASTIC BASES

756

PUSH BUTTON VERSION OF 746 WITH TEN BUTTON PULSE TYPE DIALLING AVAILABLE IN IVORY OR GREY ONLY THESE ARE LINE POWERED

(EARLY PUSH BUTTON VERSIONS HAD AN INTERNAL BATTERY)

87**  (EXAMPLE 8746)

THESE ARE BASICALLY 700 SERIES TELEPHONES WITH WIRING COMPATIBLE WITH THE BT PLUG AND SOCKET SYSTEM IN OTHER WORDS 'HAVE BEEN CONVERTED' IN THE FACTORY, THESE HAVE SOME OF THEIR INTERNAL LINKS RE ARRANGED, MAY HAVE A CAPACITOR REMOVED AND ALSO HAVE HIGHER IMPEDANCE BELLS OF 4000 OHMS RATHER THAN THE ORIGINAL 1000 OHM TYPE FITTED

 

 

BASE MARKINGS

(A QUICK START GUIDE AND NOT THE WHOLE HISTORY)

  

Above (left) 1966 first issue         Above (right) 1962 re-issue

THESE CODES APPLY TO ALL GPO TELEPHONES

AN EXAMPLE OF A GPO BASE MARK MIGHT BE - 332 L   FWR 64/2

'332' MEANS A STANDARD 300 TYPE TELEPHONE WITH NO EXTRA EQUIPMENT 

'L' MEANS THE DIAL HAS LETTERS AS WELL AS NUMBERS, 'F' WOULD MEAN IT HAS NUMBERS ONLY & 'CB' OR 'LB' WOULD MEAN EXPECT TO FIND NO DIAL AT ALL.

'FWR' MEANS THIS TELEPHONE WAS REFURBISHED IN THE GPO's FACTORY IN WALES, OTHER LETTERS USUALLY REPRESENT A MANUFACTURER CODE AND WOULD INDICATE ITS NEVER BEEN REFURBISHED

'64' IN THIS CASE IS THE DATE IT WAS REFURBISHED (REMEMBER FWR) NOT THE DATE IT WAS ORIGINALLY MADE OTHERWISE, IT WOULD MEAN THE DATE IT WAS MADE

THESE MARKINGS CAN EITHER BE IN STRAIGHT LINE OR IN A BOX

YOU MAY ALSO FIND BOXES WITH THE WORDS BATCH SAMPLED OR AUTHORIZED RELEASE

OLDER GPO REFURBISHED PHONES HAD THEIR BASES RE PAINTED IN BLACK COVERING OLDER MODEL NUMBERS AND DATES WHICH OFTEN NO LONGER APPLIED TO THE VERSION THAT WAS RE ISSUED, IN THE 1960'S THIS PRACTICE CHANGED TO USING STICKY LABELS WHICH IN SOME CASES JUST COVERED UP THE OLD NUMBERS, THERE IS A PRACTICE IN SOME CASES OF SELLERS REMOVING LABELS TO REVEAL OLDER NUMBERS OR DATES. THIS COULD IN SOME CASES MEAN ENDING UP WITH A PHONE WHICH IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.

HOWEVER, IT IS NOT UNUSUAL TO FIND GENUINE GPO PHONES CONTAINING EQUIPMENT WITH DIFFERENT DATES AND THEREFORE YOU NEED TO DECIDE IF IT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU

NON GPO PHONES OFTEN HAVE A NUMBER IN THE FORM "N****"

COLOURS APPLIES TO (100 PYRAMID)  - 200 & 300 SERIES ONLY

EXPECT TO FIND ONLY THESE AS ORIGINAL COLOURS:

BLACK -- AVAILABLE

IVORY (WHITE/CREAM) -- LESS COMMON

RED -- SCARCE

GREEN -- RARE

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE 162 (ORIGINAL PYRAMID) NO OTHER COLOURS WERE EVER OFFICIAL, HOWEVER, THE GPO DID ORIGINALLY OFFER OTHER COLOURS AT THE SUBSCRIBERS REQUEST, MADE FROM SAMPLES PROVIDED BY THE SUBSCRIBER AT AN EXTRA CHARGE OF £3-10-0d SO THEY ARE LIKE HENS TEETH TO FIND, I HAVE SEEN A GOLD 164 ONCE BUT THAT’S THE ONLY ONE.

I HAVE FOUND BLACK 300's SPRAYED UP AS REDS AND GREENS THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS EASY TO SPOT UNTIL THE PAINT WEARS OFF!

ANY OTHER COLOUR WILL VERY LIKELY BE A RECENT INDIAN IMPORT OR A RE-SPRAY

COLOURS APPLIES TO 700 SERIES ONLY

ALL VARIANTS INCLUDING WALL (711 741) AND SPECIAL TYPES

BLACK -- POPULAR COLOUR DUE TO MISCONCEPTION IT'S BAKELITE?

IVORY -- COMMON (COMMON DOMESTIC ISSUE)

TWO TONE GREY -- VERY COMMON (HEAVILY ISSUED FOR COMMERCIAL USE)

ALL VARIANTS EXCLUDING WALL (711 741) AND SPECIAL TYPES

RED -- VERY AVAILABLE (ONLY BECAUSE OF INTEREST)

TWO TONE GREEN -- AVAILABLE

BLUE -- LESS COMMON

YELLOW -- LESS COMMON

BROWN (8746 ONLY 1980 ONWARDS) -- AVAILABLE

THES ARE THE STANDARD GPO COLOURS, ANY OTHER COLOURS ARE MADE UP FROM SPARE PARTS I.E. PICK AND MIX (RED HANDSET & BLUE CASE) OR RE-SPRAY.

100 - 200 - 300 BAKELITE SERIES DIALS A DEAD GIVEAWAY

BASICALLY WE ARE LOOKING AT THREE MAIN TYPES AS THE ONLY TYPE FITTED

AGE GUIDE --- No 10 ‘1930's - 1940'S’  -  No 12 ‘1950's - 1963’  &  No 21 ‘1960's - 1970's’ --- AGE GUIDE

GPO REFURBISHED DIALS WILL HAVE A STRIKE OR LABEL OVER THE OLDER DATE

TO IDENTIFY THE DIAL TYPE ‘FROM FRONT’

No 10 ALWAYS HAS A METAL FINGER PLATE & A FAT CURVED ‘HOUNDS TOOTH’ FINGER STOP

No 12 ALWAYS HAS A METAL FINGER PLATE & A THINNER ‘HOUNDS TOOTH’ FINGER STOP

No21 CAN HAVE A METAL, BLACK OR CLEAR PLASTIC FINGER PLATE AND ALWAYS HAS A STRAIGHT FINGER STOP

ALL OF THE ABOVE DIAL TYPES ARE VALID

ALL DIALS CAN HAVE EITHER JUST NUMBERS OR NUMBERS AND FIGURES AND IN FACT SOME DIALS WITH ONLY NUMBERS CAN BE A LOT OLDER THAN ONES WITH BOTH THESE USUALLY HAVE ENAMELED NUMBERS!

ALL GPO DIALS WILL HAVE THE FINGER STOP DIRECTLY ADJACENT TO THE NUMBER 0 WITH NO REAL GAP, IF THERE IS A GAP OF ANY REAL SIZE I.E. ONE FINGER HOLE, IF THERE IS NO PAPER DIAL INSERT AND YOU CAN SEE TWO SMALL OFFSET FIXING SCREWS INSTEAD OF ONE LARGE SCREW IN THE MIDDLE OR A BLACK (VERY OCCASIONALLY YELLOW) PLASTIC RING AROUND THE EDGE OF THE PAPER INSERT (SOMETIMES HARD TO SEE) IT'S PROBABLY A MODERN INDIAN COPY SO TREAD CAREFULLY!

SOME PRIVATE OPERATORS AND HULL TELEPHONES DID USE A SIMILAR DIAL WHICH IS No 24C AND WILL BE STAMPED ON THE BACK AS ‘ATM’ RATHER THAN ‘ITI MADE IN INDIA’ BUT YOU NEED TO REMOVE THE DIAL TO FIND OUT

THE INSIDES OF AN INDIAN COPY 332 RECENTLY PURCHASED ON EBAY JUST FELL OUT WHEN THE BASE WAS REMOVED

CARE OF YOUR BAKELITE PHONE

JUST A FEW LESS OBVIOUS TIPS

DON’T PLACE THE PHONE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT
DON’T PLACE THE PHONE IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE CORD MIGHT GET SNAGGED & REMEMBER THAT THE HANDSET CORD WON'T STRETCH, SO DON'T MOVE AWAY FROM THE PHONE WHILE TALKING OTHERWISE YOUR PHONE WILL BE ON THE FLOOR IN BITS!
AVOID TOUCHING THE CLOTH CORD WITH YOUR HANDS THEY EASILY COLLECT DIRT AND GREASE
BE CAREFUL WHEN REPLACING THE HANDSET AS TO NOT KNOCK IT AGAINST THE BODY AND CAUSE CHIPPING
REMEMBER BAKELITE IS BRITTLE

REPRODUCTION TELEPHONES

SEE MY GUIDE ON RE PRODUCTION TELEPHONES COMMING SOON!

PLEASE NOTE I HAVE WRITTEN THIS GUIDE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THOSE WHO HAVE NO OR LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF TELEPHONES, I WELCOME ANY SUGGESTIONS RE ERRORS OR FURTHER INFORMATION, HOWEVER, PLEASE DON'T GET ALL TECHNICAL AS THIS IS NOT ITS INTENSION.

A LINK TO AN IMPARTIAL AND GOOD QUALITY THIRD PARTY TELEPHONE WEBSITE OF A MORE TECHNICAL NATURE IS AVAILABLE ON OUR 'ME' PAGE

Regards, Paul.