Type 1955

In 1955 the Dutch company Heemaf introduced its new telephone Type 1955 for PTT. The Heemaf type 1955 was designed by Gerard Kiljan, a graphic artist and industrial designer. The model is the successor to the type 1952, which was a further development of the types 1938 and 1931. The Heemaf type 1955 devices were delivered together with the Ericsson (type 1951) and Standard Electric (type 1954) devices. All three types of the above telephones had the same electrical circuit. The type 1955 device is made entirely of Bakelite. The base is metal in a black shade. The dial is of German design. It is the only telephone that was designed and manufactured entirely in the Netherlands. It is a device characterized by simple lines in design with a strong emphasis on functionality rather than aesthetics. Because of its shape, some have called it the Batman phone. It was produced only in black except for a small number in ivory that Philips used in private facilities and are particularly rare. The PTT logo is embossed in the center of the device’s shell. On some devices it was white, indicating that the ground button was located there so that it could be pressed, while on others it was black and could not be pressed. The telephone set was manufactured at the HEEMAF factory in Hengelo, Netherlands, from 1955 through the late 1960s. In 1970, telephone sets of this type were made available to collectors in the United States through Tandy/Radio Shack stores. It was also manufactured for the Belgian market by MBLE, a Philips subsidiary in Belgium. Among collectors, the device is known as “Batman” due to its design.