Juliphone (1960s) : the electronic secretary

Answering machines were few and far between in the 1960s. They were big, expensive and cumbersome.

A limited range of models could be rented through approved GPO suppliers, but hardly anyone had them at the time. The Juliphone was different. The suppliers sold them to users, much to the annoyance of the Post Office, and left them to install it themselves.

It used a clever combination of microphones, loudspeakers and levers that sensed when the telephone was ringing. It then lifted the receiver, played a pre-recorded message and taped the caller's response. When it heard the dialling tone again after the caller had hung up, it replaced the receiver ready to start again. It even provided the owner with remote message retrieval, and all without any connection to the telephone or the telephone line.

The example shown is a Connected Earth artefact which can be seen at the Science Museum, London.