Welcome to the new and improved Telephone Archive. I built this site in 2006 and it ran unchanged for nineteen years. I've come back now to make it better.
Why? Because antique phones are cool, and it seems important to preserve this history. Plus there's so many great stories to tell with phones: people stories, technology stories, business stories. Phones were a central part of human life in the 20th century, even before they were 'smart.' And the telephone network was the first real electronic network, and the procursor to today's internet and all the good and bad that comes with it.
For this 2026 update, I'm incorporating the latest technology, and information from a much wider variety of sources, including Wikipedia, YouTube, and ecommerce sites. Not to mention all the great info and advice I've gotten from phone collectors, many of whom are (or were) members of the excellent Telephone Collectors International. A big lighter salute and thanks to all of you:
Tom Adams, Bob Alexander, John Andrews, Walt Aydelotte, Rob Baxter, Alex Bell, Ell Bennett, Bruce Bianchi, Terry Biddlecombe, Pete Blanshard, Bud Breslin, Dick Capon, Keith Cheshire, Roger Conklin, Russ Cowell, Pete D'Acosta, Mike DeGeer, Doug Duffy, Remco Enthoven, Dick Erickson, Frank Franowsky, Hal Galvin, Ed Gerson, Gary Goff, Scott Greyerbiehl, Dave Gruger, Dennis Hallworth, Hugh Hamilton, Tom Herwer, Steve Hilsz, Tom Iverson, John Jenkins, Ray Kotke, Dave Kuns, Albert LaFrance, John La Rue, Jeff Lamb, Larry Larned, Odis Levrier, Gerry Maira, David Massey, Wayne Merit, Jim Morales, Brad Morrison, Tom Mullis, Tommy Mulloy, Mike Neale, Jerry Paxton, Scotty Poling, Jim Prather, Marie Prewett, Paul Rauth, Mark Redmond, Richard Rose, Frank Ruffino, Steve Schack, Stan Schrier, John Shriver, Jonathan Sowers, Gary Stathatos, Jim Stettler, Alec Switzer, Wally Tubbs, John Tipo-Hui, Gerald Uhlan, Chuck Vasquez, Tom Vaughn, Jeremy Walters, Edward Whalen, Jerry Williams, Ekkehart Willms, Paul Wills, Larry Wolff, and Jack Worley.
Please enjoy the site. To reach me, email dave@telephonearchive.com.
Dave