Modern Telephone (1959)
All footage can be viewed on the British Pathé website.
1959-04-04 14:00:00 - British Pathé
Shot of a green telephone and an ashtray. Telephone is ringing persistently.
High angle shots of a man operating an extremely complex looking device with the telephone incorporated into it. There are wires everywhere and there are two light bulbs on the top.
Dr Simpson, a Cambridge doctor, has invented a device which can record a voice so people can leave a message when he is outside his surgery.
Shot of Dr. Simpson working on his invention and taking his stethoscope and leaving the machine. Succession of shots shows Mrs Norfolk leaving a message and the way the message being recorded on the other side.
A factory in Camberley, Surrey, where this basic principle has been further developed. Shot of masses of wires on a large board. Shot of different wires underneath the board. Shots of a room full of women working on making answering machines.
Shot of woman's hands soldering wires. Several shots of answering machine being made, tested and used in the office of Mr Peter Cadbury, Chairman of a well known ticket agency.