The Postal - Telecommunications Historical Society of Queensland. MUSEUM. The largest collection Telecommunication Memorabilia...
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The largest collection of Telecommunication Memorabilia in Queensland.
Replicas of very early (1870's) prototype telephone transmitters and
Receivers, mainly of U.S.A. origin.
Original Swedish Ericsson wallphones. Signalling the exchange was by turning the handle on the right. Power for the transmitter was supplied by two large dry cells housed in the lower body.
This "Phonophore" was a curious device which allowed telephone contact over an existing telegraph circuit.
Very early table handset phones of British/U.S.A. and Swedish origin. Note the magnets in the legs for the signalling magneto.
A collection of 1930.s vintage table handsets with "bakelite"cases
Coloured wallphones with rotary or pushbutton dialing. Now using plastic cases.
A selection of very early batteries used in telegraph and telephone circuits.
Swedish Ericsson "Ericofons" The rotary dial was in the base. This was a novelty phone and so was popular for many years.
Pedestal telephone, wall mounted on a "scissors" extender. Used in some very busy offices such as newspaper publishers.
A range of Automatic Public Telephones (coin operated)
The first of the Mobile Phone Revolution, late 1970's.
This unit measured 35cm W x 15cm D x 32cm H. It weighed in at a massive 15KG! No camera included. (Note Australian 50 cent piece on handle)
Modern Handset Telephones.
A collection of World War 2 field telephones and other apparatus.
At top, some aerial line artifacts. At bottom, samples of submarine and underground cables: multi-pair, co-axial and modern optical fibre. Copper figured prominently because of its very high electrical conductivity.
A comprehensive collection of aerial wire insulators from subscribers lines and trunk lines.
A collection of lightning arrestors. Lightning caused severe damage to telephone lines and apparatus and still does. (Optical fibre has beaten that).
Note the "Gibson Girl" at bottom right.
Gibson Girl was the affectionate name given to an emergency radio transmitter used during the 2nd World War to enable downed airmen to send distress signals on 500kc, an International distress frequency at the time.
The Morse code telegraph had been in use for over 30 years and spread virtually world wide by the time Alexander Graham Bell made his first successful voice transmission in 1876.
The first telephones were rather crude. There was just one device at each end of the line. It was held in front of the mouth when speaking and held to the ear to hear the reply. Later somebody got the idea of a second instrument, one for the mouth and one for the ear. At this stage however, there were no telephone exchanges. Some of the earlier experiments temporarily used telegraph lines, but it was discovered there was a limit to just how far a voice would travel. These first telephones were simply operated between two points. Australia's first phone exchange was in Melbourne in 1880, and other States quickly followed.
Whilst the earpiece was apparently little changed from earliest times to recent times, a lot of experimenting took place to develop the microphone.
