VINTAGE 1970S BRITISH POST OFFICE 746 ROTARY TELEPHONE TWO TONE BROWN AND GREY MADE BY GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY ENGLAND

VINTAGE 1970S ROTARY TELEPHONE IN A BEAUTIFUL TWO TONE BROWN AND GREY COLOUR.
IT WAS MADE BY THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY IN COVENTRY ENGLAND BETWEEN 1967 AND 1971.
 
THIS OLD TELEPHONE IS MADE OF BAKELITE, AND IS A ROTARY PHONE WITH 2 BELLS INSIDE (SEE PHOTO FROM UNDERSIDE). STILL HAS THE ORIGINAL STICKER LISTEN BEFORE DIALING ON THE FRONT OF ROTARY DIAL.
 
MARKINGS: GEC MADE IN ENGLAND BY THE GENERAL ELECRTRIC CO LTD (1889-2006) OF ENGLAND
THE ONCE MIGHTY GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY FOLDED VOLANTARILY IN 2006.
 
Size: 24CM WIDE 15CM HIGH 21CMDEEP
 
CONDITION: OVERALL IN VERY GOOD VINTAGE CONDITION. NOT TESTED BUT ROTARY DIAL TURNS FREELY AND I SEE NO REASON WHY IT SHOULD NOT BE IN WORKING CONDITION.
 
The 746 telephone was the British GPO's main telephone for the 1970s. It was the phone most people had in the 70s and it is phone you will remember from that decade.
In the 70s, the home telephone was still a luxury in the UK. The General Post Office (GPO) had a monopoly on telephone services and anyone who wanted a phone needed to rent one from the GPO.
 
ROTARY PHONES: Rotary dial phones are the earliest user controlled phone to be mass produced. Prior to the rotary phone a user would pick up the phone, wait for the operator to answer and then tell the operator who they wanted to be connected with. With the rotary dial, the user was able to dial freely, allowing for quicker and more convenient connection to the people they wanted to speak with.
The first patents for rotary phones was filed in 1879 but it was only in 1919 that the American Bell Telephone Company began national service for user controlled rotary dial phones.
Until the 1970's, when push button tone dial was introduced, rotary phones were the only viable option for user controlled phones. By the 1980's most rotary phones were phased out.

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