This exhibit traces the evolution of telephone technology and the equipment that once connected homes, businesses, workers and communities before mobile phones became part of everyday life.
Featuring early telephone handsets, a portable field telephone, switchboard equipment and later domestic models, the display shows how communication changed across the decades as technology became faster, more practical and more widely available.
The Early Telephones Exhibit gives visitors a look at the equipment once used to connect people across Townsville and beyond. Before mobile phones, text messages and instant online communication, telephones were fixed pieces of technology that relied on exchanges, switchboards, cables and trained workers to keep conversations moving.
The display includes a portable field telephone used by PMG, Telecom and Telstra linesmen from around the 1960s onwards. These types of phones were practical working tools, used by technicians to test lines, communicate during repairs and maintain the network that kept households and businesses connected.
Visitors can also see examples of domestic telephone design, including the distinctive red Ericofone from around 1960 and a later touch-tone telephone from the 1970s. These phones show how home communication gradually shifted from operator-assisted and rotary systems to more modern push-button technology.
A major feature of the exhibit is the telephone switchboard display. With its rows of plugs, sockets, switches and handsets, it shows the physical process behind early telephone connections. Instead of simply dialling a number and being instantly connected, many calls once depended on operators manually linking lines through exchange equipment.
Together, these items tell the story of a time when communication was more mechanical, more visible and far less portable than it is today. The exhibit is a reminder of just how much effort and infrastructure sat behind a simple phone call.
What You'll See
Portable field telephone used by PMG, Telecom and Telstra linesmen
Red Ericofone telephone from around 1960
Touch-tone telephone from the late 1970s
Telephone switchboard with plugs, sockets, switches and handsets
Examples of how phone calls were connected before modern digital systems
Equipment showing the work of technicians, operators and telephone exchanges
A look at the changing design of telephones across different decades
