This website explains many of the terms used by Antique Telephone dealers when they talk about old telephones.
In recent years Antique Telephones, including the classic Art Deco Bakelite phones from the 1940'a and 1950's have become very popular. This is in part because TV programs like "Deal or No Deal" have brought these vintage telephones to the publics eye.
Even the later retro phones such as BT's model number 706 and 746 phones have become very popular as icons of the golden telephone era. These Classic old phones appear to be an antique choice for the retro or vintage home. People paticularly love the classic bell sound of a these iconic phones.
There are now a number of antique dealers and telephone repair workshops that service, convert and repair GPO telephones and bakelite phones. Retro & Antique Telephones are now more popular than ever.
The term Antique Telephones tends to be used as a description for old phones made before 1960. These begin with the British Candlestick telephone known as Tele 150's introduced in 1924. This was the PO's first standard table phone.
Then later the first elegantly curved pyramid shaped Bakelite telephones called the 200 series telephones, were introduced in 1929 and continued in production until 1957. Although these were the first bakelite telephones to appear in the UK they did not contain internal bells. They used seperate bakelite bell sets.
The last and often regarded as the most iconic antique telephones were called the 300 series telephones and were again made out of Bakelite. The classic 300 series bakelite telephones were produced between 1937 and 1959 and these are what most people think of as antique telephones. These were also the first Btitish Telephones to contain an internal bell.
When old phone dealers talk about British Bakelite telephones they are refering to phones made between 1929 and 1959 made out of one of the first plastics, Bakelite. However Bakelite is too expensive to be used to make modern phones today. Although Bakelite is brittle if it is restored corretly is looks like new and unlike modern plastic phones bakelite telephones will not melt. Coloured Bakelite telephones made in this period are actually made of a different plastic usually "cellulose acetate". However everyone including the telephone dealers still refer to them as Bakelite Telephones. There are quite a few good resources giving advice on buying Bakelite Telephones on the web.
The term Vintage Telephones can cover a wide range of phones, and some people use it to describle the older Bakelite phones, however most people use the term Vintage Telephones to cover the plastic phones made between 1960 and the mid 1980's (the first modern plastic telephones). Especially the classic 706 and 746 range of phones which have become more desirable and collectable in recent years.
Retro telephones is the term frequently used by antique telephone dealers to describe Retro Telephones made between 1960 and the mid 1980's, although it is also used to describe the modern "Retro Style phones" these are brand new telephones however they are made as replicas of iconic phones from the 1960's and 70's such as the iconic Trimphone. Retro Telephones are very popular, and people buy them as their main home phones at the moment. There are quite a few good sites giving advice on buying Retro Telephones available.
The phrase "Classic Telephones" covers a very wide range of phones, and is often used to describe both Antique Telephones and Retro Telephones.
Old Telephones can be anything ranging from phones made the early 1900's to the late 1980's
Old fashioned telephones is a term used to describe the widest range of phones ranging from the early 1900's to the present day (such as replica phones). Old Fasioned Telephones is a popular term with old telephone dealers.
The terms "Old Style Telephones" and Old Fashioned Telephones are interchangable
The term Traditional Telephones is usually used to describe old telephones with a rotary dial and a mechanical bell ringer, although it can be sometimes be used to describe relica phones as in Old Fashioned Telephones.
Antique dealers nealy always use the term GPO telephones to describe Bakelite Telephones because the GPO (General Post Office) ran the UK's telephone network until October 1969, after which time it was known as "Post Office Telecommunications" and later (in 1980) British Telecommunications (BT). The exception to this rule would be the classic plastic 706 phones (as these were produced in the 1960's), however the later 746 phones would not be call GPO telephones as these were made after the GPO became "Post Office Telecommunications". More detail can be seen at Telephone Antiques Group.