Guest blog by Steve.
“GPO” stands for General Post Office and they ran the telephone business in the UK from 1878 until British Telecom (BT) took over in 1980, when the telephone network was privatised.
This retro design telephone is named after, and is the same style as, the GPO 746 phone that was first introduced in the UK in 1967 and was in common use throughout the 1970’s and remained so until the push button phone was introduced.
Unlike most retro telephone copies this one has a real rotary dial – not just push buttons in the rotary locations. The beautiful styling and working rotary dial reminds me of the days back in the 70’s when you dialled a number rather than scrolled through until you find the one.
This telephone really has a traditional and authentic look and feel, but with some convenient built-in modern technology and the updated design perfectly echoes its no-nonsense, iconic British 60’s styling.
This phone has the authentic bell ring of the day and it’s a great reminder of the late 60’s and 70’s.
I found the phone easy to use straight out of the box; it is compatible with any standard analogue landline. You simply attach the handset to the main unit with the lead provided, then plug the main unit with the other into your phone point and dial away.
The instructions made me smile because they tell you to lift the receiver when the phone rings to answer the call and then to replace the receiver to end the call – a lovely reminder of those halcyon days where we didn’t have a mobile glued to our ears!
There’s a volume adjust button which lets you select the volume to one that suits you and the ringer can be turned on and off for when you don’t want to be disturbed.
In short, this is an excellent phone that operates brilliantly, looks fantastic and is available in red, black or ivory.
Unlike the 70’s, when you could only rent your telephone, you can buy this beautiful GPO 740 classic rotary dial telephone online today or use our Click & Collect service to get your GPO rotary phone in as little as one hour. You can also pop down to your local Hughes store for a demo that will have you reminiscing!
