Our newest From the Vault item is a mobile phone produced by General Electric and Glenayre Electronics Ltd. This would have been produced and used during the middle of the 20th Century. This may seem quite old for a mobile phone but there are some differences between current models and this interesting collection item.

This particular mobile phone, including the base measures 13.5cm high, 19.5cm wide and 29cm long at its most extreme dimensions. The main body of the item is plastic, possibly made of polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, or other similar plastic. The wooden base is handmade, most likely for the specific purpose of the Manitoba Department of Conservation and Water Stewardship and possibly by the individual member of the Department that used it in their work. According to the donor the port on the bottom of the phone, which extends through the base, is there so that the phone can be hooked up to a car battery. The phone uses radio waves to connect to a telephone operator who would then forward their call through regular phone lines. There are two rows of buttons and each button has two letters. Above the left set of buttons “ON CALL TX BUSY” can be read. Above the right set of buttons “execute|” is printed.

This item was accessioned into the Sam Waller Museum collection on 16 October 2012.