The telephone was the telecommunication device that defined the 20th century - one that made the biggest impact on ordinary lives.
People's perception of the telephone transformed from an object of mystique to an everyday tool of modern life.
In the end, it became impossible to imagine life without one...
Promoting the telephone was a real challenge at first - what would people use it for and whom would they call?
The social conventions of the time meant that people were reluctant to call each other at home 'unannounced'.
The equipment was also very expensive,...
In trade and commerce the telephone was universal by the time of the First World War (1914-1918) but private subscribers were still a minority.
During the war, more people came into contact with field telephones in Flanders and elsewhere and so became 'telephone minded'...
The telephone had become the stuff of everyday life well before the Second World War - at least for some Britons.
But in 1945 there were about 4 telephone lines per 100 of the population including business lines. That was to change rapidly in the next three decades. The...