Bids by phone welcome in Lichfield auction of old blowers

About 1,000 telephones are to be auctioned from the personal collection of a man “fanatical” about the devices.

Featuring designs spanning decades, the lots focus on iconic models from the 1930s through to the 1980s but also include 1990s and 2000s developments in communication, according to Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield.

They said that on 6 October bidding would take place online, live in the room at The Lichfield Auction Centre “and – fittingly – on the telephone by prior request”.

And they think the collection could sell for a sum that has a nice ring to it.

As well as domestic models, items include office phones, warehouse phones, a military field device and two large telephone exchanges.

Classic Bakelite designs, GPO [General Post Office] “rotary dial bell-ringers”, elegant candlestick telephones and “fun novelty shapes such as a leaping Jaguar mascot” were along the available items, the auctioneers said.

The collection was amassed by Rev John Charles Baines, from Longnor in Staffordshire, who died suddenly this year 10 days shy of his 57th birthday.

His brother Michael Baines, from Ashbourne in Derbyshire, said: “He was fanatical about telephones.

“It is a complete mystery why he started – he should have worked for British Telecom.”

Catalogued across more than 100 lots, much of the collection is UK-manufactured, but there are also Belgian, Danish, Italian and American telephone designs.

Brands include GPO, Bell, Ericsson and Siemens Brothers.

Other items includes typewriters, a 1950s copying machine, computer equipment and a small archive of black and white photographs of telephonists dating back to the early 20th Century.

Auctioneers said they were hoping “for a ringing success”, estimating the collection could fetch £5,000 at the Fradley Park site.

A spokesperson for the auctioneers stated: “It is an impressive archive spanning a century of communication and encapsulating the history of telephone development and design.

“Telecoms enthusiasts and collectors, fans of retro design and anyone looking for original props for film, television or the stage will all find plenty to interest them.”

The collection will go under the hammer in the Antique & Home Sale on 6 October.

Viewing in person is to take place on 3 October and the catalogue will go live a week beforehand.