Telephone

This telephone is a special limited edition version of the Compact 776. It was issued by the Post Office to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. The telephone was produced in 'Balmoral Blue' and features the Jubilee emblem on the dial. Two versions of the emblem were used, one for Scotland featuring the Scottish crown, and one for the rest of the United Kingdom.

The Post Office only green-lighted this project in late 1976. As a result 30,000 telephones had to be manufactured quickly by the PO factory in Wales without recourse to the usual tendering process. At the time telephones could only be rented from the Post Office. This telephone cost £14 which included a bell and a shelf unit. Although not the customer's property, the telephone could be re-installed by an engineer if they moved house.

This commemorative telephone did not prove popular with the public however. Although 6,132 were sold in the first month of the Jubilee, over 13,000 remained unsold at the end of the year.