Antique Phones: A Blast from the Past

Everyone collects something, and for some, collecting antique phones is an interesting and informative hobby. Today, you can find working, useable antique phones online and in stores. There are also brand new phones that are reproductions of antiques; the only difference is the underlying technology.

Even phones you might not think possible to use, such as an old fashioned wall mounted crank phones, may be available. There are plenty of sites online that sell both authentic antique phones as well as reproductions of antique phones. The actual antiques have often been retrofitted for today’s technology, and may require a little more time to set up than a modern phone, but they usually will work on today’s phone systems. If you have an actual antique phone that has not been refitted, you probably won’t be able to use it with the modern telephone systems.

Things to Keep in Mind

Many antique phones are not going to be compatible with modern touch tone systems. Most of these old phones are rotary phones, which may be problematic in some instances, especially if you call a business with an automated directory that asks you to make your choices by pushing a number on your phone. This does not mean you can’t have an authentic antique phone, but you will probably want to have a more modern phone around to use as well.

One thing to keep in mind is that there seems to be a rather large influx of phones that may not be completely original. Some of these phones are put together using actual, authentic parts, but not parts that belonged together originally. Part of the phone may be original, but quite a few of the other parts may be from other antique phones instead of from the phone itself.

Collecting antique phones can be a good investment depending on the availability and age of the phone in question. It is true that these phones are only going to be rarer as the years pass, and at the very least you will always have a nice conversation piece in your home.

Antique phones are a rather intriguing thing to collect. They are definitely a part of American culture as well as part of our technological heritage. If you are interested in collecting antique phones, there are a couple of organizations dedicated to the collecting of antique telephones that may be able to help you determine the authenticity of your phone and possibly help you learn the basics of antique phone collecting.