By JO HARRISON
Telecommunications historian, Murray Rasmussen hosted the display of early phones that included a candlestick phone from early 1900s, the ultra modern ‘touch phone’ of the 1960s, and one of the earliest, suitcase-sized mobile phones.
“A lot of the major developments in telecommunications have happened in our lifetime so there is much to be shared by getting out and talking to people,” Mr Rasmussen said.
“I thoroughly enjoy swapping memories about the early home phones, hearing about the days of the party line and meeting people who have worked in the manual exchanges.”
Information collected on the tour will help him add to the large collection housed at the Telstra Museums in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
“It has been great to see the public interest, especially the kids as we have travelled around regional Australia,” Mr Rasmussen said.
“The kids look at a dial phone and wonder where the buttons are.
“There is a growing interest in the old phones especially the wall phones which are made out of Tassie Oak which are beautiful pieces of machinery. The old candlestick phones are also very collectable,” he said.
Mr Rasmussen said Telstra’s historical collection includes a wide variety of early phones, old phone boxes, photos and archival materials accumulated over more than 50 years.
“It contains items developed and used across Australia as part of the Postmaster General’s (PMG) Department, Telecom and Telstra, as well as early broadcast equipment used by the ABC,” he said.
Anyonewho believes they may have an item or a story worth including in the archive can contact the Telstra Sydney Museum on (02) 9790 7624.
