apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I think a wall of phones is appropriate to a hotel or restaurant or a phone company, but not your home. However, if the first photo of all the colorful phones was made into a poster, it would make great feng shui wall art in a home or office (especially a counselor's where "communications" is key).

I love my restored 1930's bakelite phone. In addition to looking very smart, it has the lovely original ring tone, which makes me feel as if I am in an old movie.

It does weigh a ton, though, and it is better for answering than calling. I keep it near a chair, as you can't wander around with it, to settle into a conversation. You do need another land-line phone with your vintage model, unless you never call out. I can't believe that I've gotten too lazy to dial a phone number, but I have.

OMG I was -just- talking to my mother about looking for an old phone because they're so reliable and I was tired of barely-functional pieces of new-made junk. We found mine at a thrift-store, though, a nice solid black Trimline. The ringer is unbelievably loud but it can be turned off, and for 43 cents...

I found a vintage push button phone in the trash. Works much better than any newer phone I've had over the years.

Still loving (and using) my old yellow rotary-dial wall phone.

vintage telephones flickr group:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/22344511@N00/

great post! I love vintage phones & have my grandfather's old black one from the 50s in my dining room! It still works wonderfully, but we're not using it as we don't have a landline at the moment... lol it's beautiful none-the-less!

http://cozylittlecave.blogspot.com/2009/08/dining-room.html

I have the opposite issue. I have a great vintage phone, but need a decent looking modern cordless phone. I want something with a super clean & simple look, not hi tech, not just plain ugly. I can't seem to find anything.

I love my three vintage phones, but sadly the old timers aren't compatible with VOIP so when I ditch my landline next month they'll just become dead plastic paperweights. I wish I could find a way to take them into the 21st century with me.

I love vintage phones myself and have an early 80's vintage touch tone yellow trimline at my bedside.

Unless rotary dialing is uncompatible, I don't think VOIP should be any problem as you tie your existing regular phone into the system via a modem. As far as I know, good friends have regular cordless phones and use VOIP.

I wondering if you could use the body of an old phone and the Yubz Talk BLUETOOTH Retro Cell Phone Handset (with your cell phone, of course). The body would basically just be a holder for the handset. Has anybody tried this?

For those of you looking to use an old classic rotary phone, but don't want to invest in a landline (or reconfigure their phone to work with modern lines ), Sparkfun.com has figured it out for you. They've modified the internals of a classic phone so you can use the it as a "bluetooth" headset with your current mobile phone. So you basically answer / make calls with the Rotary phone...

http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=8929

As for me, I put in the effort on my rotary to make it work with the landline since Comcast still recognizes pulse dialing.

Ciao!

I use a rotary with a bluetooth gateway attached (http://www.frys.com/product/5642031) to receive cell phone calls when I'm at home. Works like a charm and you get to hear the old bell ringer.

I love the Sweet Bella phones. Only problem is that you can't order directly from them. They only sell wholesale. I wish they would add a link from their site to their online retailers. I love everything on their site.