
Replicas of Alexander Graham Bell's 1879 'Patent Office' telephone, 1959
- Made:
- 1959 in Science Museum
- inventor:
- Alexander Graham Bell
- maker:
- Science Museum


Replica of Bell's 'Patent-office' telephone of 1876, made by Science Museum Workshops, South Kensington, London, England, 1959.
These telephones are based on drawings submitted with Alexander Graham Bell's (1847-1922) telegraph patent on 14 February 1876. At the time, the US Patent Office still required patent applications to be accompanied by a model as well as a drawing, but in Bell's case the model requirement was waived, despite it being completely new technology. Only a drawing was submitted with Bell's patent application, upon which these model telephones are based.
Details
- Category:
- Telecommunications
- Object Number:
- 1959-8/2
- Materials:
- copper (alloy), metal (unknown), plastic (unidentified), skin (untanned), textile and wood (unidentified)
- type:
- telephone
- taxonomy:
-
- component - object
- credit:
- Made in museum