Please click on the relevant picture below to view photographs of the actual telephones that we currently have for sale. All these telephones have been professionally restored, converted and serviced. For a brief history of 300 series telephones please click here.
Telephone: Ivory 312 Ref: 3225 | ||
Ivory 312 telephone with drawer, braided cord and alphanumeric chrome dial -1954. Good condition. Very small chip to left hand corner at base and a tiny hairline crack to the mouthpiece as shown in photographs. | ||
SOLD: £315 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
Telephone: Black 332 Ref: 3256 | ||
Black 332 telephone with braided cord and chrome alphanumeric dial -1956. Good condition -minor nibbles and surface scratches consistent with age and use. | ||
SOLD: £190 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
Telephone: Black 312 Ref: 3264 | ||
Black 312 telephone with drawer, braided cord and chrome alphanumeric dial -1955. Very good condition -only minor nibbles and surface scratches consistent with age and use. | ||
SOLD: £200 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
Telephone: Red 332 Ref: 3168 | ||
Very rare Red 332, with braided cord, drawer and alphanumeric chrome dial -1955. Some slight damage to casing -chip to side with a small stress fracture above and a small chip to other side at base -(see photos). Other than that only minor nibbles consistent with age and use. This phone is on display at Elsecar Antiques Centre and we would advise viewing if possible due to the price. Postage price is reflective of insurance costs. | ||
SOLD: £450 (P&P: £20.00) | ||
Telephone: Black 332 Ref: 3235 | ||
Black 332 bakelite telephone with braided cord and chrome alphanumeric dial -1958. Good condition -minor nibbles and surface scratches consistent with age and use. Had a small chip to the right hand strutt at the rear which has been smoothed down -this is reflected in the price. | ||
SOLD: £165 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
Telephone: Black 332 Ref: 3238 | ||
Black 332 bakelite telephone with braided cord and alphanumeric chrome dial-1945. Good condition -minor nibbles and surface scratches consistent with age and use. | ||
SOLD: £180 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
Telephone: Black 312 Ref: 3243 | ||
Black 312 with drawer, braided cord and chrome alphanumeric dial -1950's. Very good condition -minor surface scratches consistent with age and use. | ||
SOLD: £210 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
Telephone: Black 332 Ref: 3244 | ||
Black 332 with drawer, braided cord and chrome alphanumeric dial -1955. Minor surface scratches to the handset consistent with age but the case is in excellent condition -one of the best we have seen. | ||
SOLD: £195 (P&P: £12.00) | ||
The 300 series telephones were first introduced in 1937. They were the first British bakelite phones to contain an internal bell. This superb telephone with its classic hard lines and sharp edges was based on an earlier Ericsson design and was developed by the British Post Office working with the Ericsson Telephone Company.
Originally these telephones used braided cords between the handset and the main body, although a lot of these braided cords were later swapped out for the more reliable plastic curly cords. Similarly the 300 series telephones used the same drawer as used on the later 200 series telephones. However due to potential problems with the draw contents jamming the bell the drawers were routinely replaced over time by a blank drawer front. Over the years these blanking plates tended to be damaged by people prising out what they thought was a jammed drawer.
The GPO did not throw away phones in those days they repaired them and/or refurbished them. If you see the letters "FWR" stamped on the base plate of a telephone this means that it has been refurbished in a GPO factory at some point in its life.
All of the main UK manufacturers (such as Siemens and GEC) produced the 300 series telephones for the BPO (later to become the General Post Office GPO) and for private internal systems. These telephones were produced in black (standard), ivory (rare), red (very rare) and green (extremely rare).
This series of telephone continued to be produced for nearly 30 years and represents the pinnacle of 20th century design.
The most popular 300 series telephones were:
UK Manufacturers of 300 series telephones
Outside of the UK
Beware telephones made outside of the UK were often of inferior quality, particularly the Indian ITI telephones.