Bakelite Telephone Handset Markings

This page is designed to help you identify the markings on the bakelite telephone handset to give you a quick way of spotting non British versions of Bakelite Telephones. Please be aware someone could still put a genuine British handset onto a foreign body of a bakelite telephone. Other methods of spotting non British Bakelite telephones can be seen at  British Telephones (the ultimate reference website for British telephone information).

ITI Bakelite Telephone Handset Photograph of an Indian ITI (Indian Telephone Industries) handset. Not British and poorer quality, made using different mouldings sizes.
ITI Handset Pictorial representation of the ITI handset markings. Made cheaply for the Indian market in the 1950's
Blank Handset Marking removed (sanded off). Beware this often indicates an attempt to hide an ITI or AEP handset.
AEP Bakelite Handset Portuguese AEP (Automatica Electrica Portuguesa). Not British so not as collectable however much better quality than the Indian version.
GPO Bakelite Telephone Handset Genuine British type 164 handset (the standard handset). The second number indicates year eg in this example 1959.
Old GPO Bakelite Handset Genuine British 164 handset (older version of above). In this example a type 164 handset made by Plessey in 1938
ATM Telephone Handset Genuine British ATM (Automatic Telephone Manufacturing) of Liverpool.
GEC Bakelite telephone handset Genuine British GEC (General Electric Apparatus Company) handset
Ericsson Bakelite Handset Genuine British ETL (Ericsson Telephones LTD) made in Beeston, Nottingham.