TELEPHONES OF THE BELL SYSTEM:
REPRESENTATIVE MODELS

Since the first successful model of the telephone in 1876, each successive telephone operates on the same baic priciples that Bell introduced in his Boston workshop. The designs and sizes of wall phones have changed from large wooden devices to the stylish Trimline ® phone introduced in 1965. Desk telephone designs ranged from early "candlestick" phones through the later character and the unique Designline ® phones.

Below can be found photographs and some information on many of the earlier phones found within the Bell System manufactured by Charles Williams and then Western Electric.

Bell's Liquid Transmitter	Bell's lst Commercial Telephone
Williams "Coffin" Telephone	Western Electric "Potbelly"
Western Electric Vanity	Western Electric Three Box
Western Electric Two Box	Western Electric #85 Fiddleback
Western Electric #301 Wallphone	Western Electric #317 Wallphone
Western Electric #10 desk phone	Western Electric #20B desk phone
Western Electric #20AL & #40AL desk phone	Western Electric #51AL desk phone
Inside a W.E. Candlestick	Western Electric #202 desk phone
Western Electric #302 desk phone	The Princess Phone

Interested in old telephones? Check out the Antique Telephone Collectors Association