Vintage 1935 telephone BLACK BAKELITE TR GECOPHONE STYLE TELEPHONE

I was walking around WanChai before my lesson last night and came across an old vintage shop selling old toys and some old phones. Out of those toys, one phone catches my eye. This is a 1935 phone used in HKG and there are Chinese characters at the dialing ring... 

The amazing thing is that the phone is still in working condition. Unlike those modern cordless phone that can hardly last more then 1 years, this amazing phone can actually continue to work from the 1935 till now! Is our technology moving forward or backward? 

The availability of good quality antique telephone is rather low in Singapore compared to other countries such as US or Europe. In fact, the variety of antique telephones is also very limited. The propagation of telephone begins only in the late 70s to the1980s where Singapore becomes a manufacturing hub. By the 1990s, almost every household has a line and a touch tone telephone, supplied by the Singapore Telecom.

The reason is probably due to the high cost of owning one and the need for one. Most people in Singapore back in the 1900s did not really need a phone as Many of our ancestors were the ground workers, coffee shop operators, cook, gardener or servant of the British. Only the non-native executives such as the British has a use of the rotary telephone. The governments and companies driving the use of telephones.

From the Internet, it was mentioned that the cost of a telephone is equivalent to that of a S$2000 laptop. Unless you are someone important and had a reason to own one, the telephone is off limit to the man on the ground. The average man probably earn an equivalent of a $200 salary per month.

My next target shall be a Classic British Bakelite Telephone, aka King Pyramid 200. These antique telephones were the first Bakelite Telephones to be used in the UK and Hong Kong being the colony of UK, will naturally be using the same phone as well.  These vintage telephones were made of Bakelite and had a separate “Bell Set” that contained the bell. However this “Bell Set” could be mounted underneath the telephone as shown below and the telephone was then called a “combined set”. These Bakelite telephones are now regarded as iconic art deco phones in the UK.

History of 200 Series Telephones

In 1929 the revolutionary and elegantly curved pyramid shaped Tele 162 table telephones were first introduced in the UK. Originally made by Siemens these telephones superseded the era of the 'candlestick' telephone. Although the GPO version still required a separate bell set.

In the early 1930’s having a bell separate from the telephone was normal practice. It was usual for the “bell set” to be located in the hall, while the telephone itself might be anywhere convenient to the customer. It was also possible to mount the bakelite bell set underneath the telephone and this was then known as a “Combined Set” or by some as a “King Pyramid”.

The Tele 232 was a development on from the Tele 162 and was introduced in 1934. It looked exactly the same but contained an improved ASTIC circuit that improved the sound quality of the telephone.

Later versions had a drawer in the base (for dialling numbers etc) and used a less damage prone cradle fork made of cellulose acetate rather than Bakelite. The later cradle style also overhangs the telephone body to provide a lip that made the telephone slightly easier to carry around.

These telephones were produced in black (standard), ivory (rare), red (very rare) and green (extremely rare).