Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard_FM
I heard that subscribers had to pay an additional fee for Bakelite phones in any colour other than black.
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Correct! And from 1959 until at least 1968, an extra fee was charged for a 'Modern' telephone (as the Sales Staff were told to refer to the 700 series phone) no matter what colour. Hence few residential folk wanted black - they tended to be in 'industrial' locations. The Bakelite telephone was referred to as a 'Standard' telephone and was the basic phone issued until at least 1968. But most folk wanted a 'modern' telephone hence the demise of the Bakelite. As I started this thread with the fact that I have a couple of Tele 164's (black Bakelite handsets) dated 1961 and 1966 on a couple of 200 types I acquired and was wondering when the GPO stopped purchasing Bakelite ?