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Old 11th Jul 2022, 4:19 pm   #1
Sherden
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Default BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if you could shed some light. I have a vintage rotary telephone, 8746G. DFM 83/2, in the middle of the dial there is a letter M and around it says "This is not a telephone", please see the photo for details.
Does anyone know what the M stand for, and why it says that it is not a telephone?
By the way, it works perfectly fine.
Thank you in advance for your time and expertise.
Sherden
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Old 11th Jul 2022, 6:20 pm   #2
Electronpusher0
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

Perhaps it was a warning that this was only an internal phone and did not connect to an exchange, what most people would think of as a "telephone"

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Old 11th Jul 2022, 6:32 pm   #3
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

https://www.vanrensburg-galleries.co...ot-a-telephone

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Old 11th Jul 2022, 6:49 pm   #4
Graham G3ZVT
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

I thought the M might refer to the Daily Mail, but the typeface isn't quite right.

Maybe an ironic reference to Nick's $3m work of art,
or maybe it's not a "telephone", in the sense it wasn't capable of making external calls in its original location.

PS I see Peter has already suggested that last point.
PPS Welcome to the forum Sherden!
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Old 11th Jul 2022, 7:18 pm   #5
Dave Moll
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

My thoughts immediately went to "M" for "Magritte" (as in the Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte) and his famous image "The Treachery of Images", depicting a tobacco pipe with the words "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe").

I must also say that the image by Miguel Vallinas linked to earlier does have something of a Magritte-inspired look about it as a stepping stone between the two.

Turning to the telephone itself, I'm intrigued by the suffix "G". I'm familiar with:
"F" numbers-only dial
"L" dial with letters as well as numbers
"R" inclusion of earth recall
plus a couple of more obscure variations such as "S" and "T", but not "G".
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Last edited by Dave Moll; 11th Jul 2022 at 7:27 pm. Reason: 746 "G" suffix
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Old 11th Jul 2022, 8:03 pm   #6
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

I think 'G' denotes 4000R bell coils for use on what was then the modern plug and socket system with bells wired in parallel.
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Old 11th Jul 2022, 9:23 pm   #7
Dave Moll
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

Isn't that what the "8" prefix means?
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Old 11th Jul 2022, 9:41 pm   #8
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

Wasn't it "Dial 'M' for Murder"?



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Old 11th Jul 2022, 9:45 pm   #9
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Moll View Post
Isn't that what the "8" prefix means?
https://www.britishtelephones.com/t746.htm

Scroll down to the end of the text.

These telephones were introduced long after All Figure Numbers (AFN) so F for figures and L for letters were no longer applicable.
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Old 12th Jul 2022, 10:00 am   #10
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Default Re: BT Cream Rotary 8746G "This is not a telephone"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave Moll View Post
Isn't that what the "8" prefix means?
The devil is in the detail, Dave, and outlined on the 'N'-drawing. All the '8' means is that it's a plug-and-socket telephone. The suffix 'G' means it has a 4k bell-movement in it.

I got caught out like that once.
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