Ericsson DBH 1001 telephone

The Ericsson DBH 1001 is a telephone manufactured by the Swedish communications company Ericsson in different versions over a period of over 30 years (1931-1962). When Ericsson’s Bakelite telephone became widespread across the world in the 1930s, it was referred to as the “Swedish telephone type”. The model’s history, however, began elsewhere. In 1931, in Oslo, Norway, engineer Johan Christian Bjerknes and artist and designer Jean Heiberg developed the first Bakelite telephone with a built-in base, dialler, and bell. The design of the lightweight (weighing around 3 kg) and relatively small device (it could be held in one hand) set a new standard for plastic telephones. From 1933, the Ericsson DBH 1001 telephone became a standard in Swedish telecommunications. The device was also exported – it was ordered in enormous quantities by the British Royal Mail, among others. Manufacturer: Ericsson LM, 1930s Inv. No. MIM 30/VIII-1 Model prepared on the basis of photogrammetric measurements Licence: CC BY-NC-SA