Ericofon 600 thumbnail 1
Ericofon 600 thumbnail 2
+4
images
Not on display

Ericofon 600

Telephone
1941 (designed), 1954 (manufactured)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Ericofon 600 telephone was designed by the LM Ericsson Company of Sweden, by a small design team headed by HG (Gosta) Thames. The company wished to produce a small, lightweight, easy-to-use phone. The one-piece design, which integrated speaker and receiver, was designed in 1941 but not manufactured until 1954 onwards. Ericsson produced the phone for the European and American markets, as the company initially failed to penetrate the US market, owing to Bell's monopoly.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleEricofon 600 (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Moulded plastic
Brief description
Telephone (Ericofon 600), made by L M Ericsson, Beeston, 1941.
Physical description
Orange plastic hand-held telephone. Indentation to handle to provide grip. Dial on base is concealed when placed on a table or surface.
Dimensions
  • Height: 21.5cm
  • Depth: 11cm
  • Width: 10cm
Production typeMass produced
Credit line
Given by British Telecom Ltd.
Object history
In 2001, BT began the dispersal of its collection of historic telecommunications artefacts and documentation, through the Connected Earth Project. This project was established to dispose of BT's collections to the professional museums sector, and to make available the history of British telecommunications via a 'virtual museum' (www.connected-earth.com). The majority of specialist collections was dispersed to 9 partner museums (including the Science Museum and the Museum of London). The rest of the material was offered to the museums sector (including the V&A) on a first come, first served basis. This telephone is one of those given to the V&A [2003/167].
Historical context
The Post Office (GPO) Special Range telephones were products of a distinctive design and appearance which, in general, incurred higher tariff charges than the standard issue phones. They were introduced in two phases in the 1970s and 1980s as means of offering greater consumer choice to users, whilst maintaining the Post Office policy that all telephone instruments having access to the public network must be owned, installed and maintained by the Post Office. Although distinctive in their external design, they were compatible with all other PO issue phones and could be used on all exchange lines. The second phase of Specials in the 1980s offered plug and socket phones which could be installed without the need for a specialist fitter, which brought the cost down somewhat.

The Special Range included the novelty phones based on the figures of Mickey Mouse (introduced in 1978) and Snoopy. Generally, the PO and later BT purchased existing models from overseas manufacturers and put them into production themselves. In only rare cases (like the Trimphone which, as the Deltaphone, became a 'special') did they commission new design themselves
Production
Reason For Production: Retail
Association
Summary
The Ericofon 600 telephone was designed by the LM Ericsson Company of Sweden, by a small design team headed by HG (Gosta) Thames. The company wished to produce a small, lightweight, easy-to-use phone. The one-piece design, which integrated speaker and receiver, was designed in 1941 but not manufactured until 1954 onwards. Ericsson produced the phone for the European and American markets, as the company initially failed to penetrate the US market, owing to Bell's monopoly.
Collection
Accession number
W.9-2003

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJuly 2, 2004
Record URL
Download as: JSON