Fg Stat 23a Wall Phone

Siemens & Halske introduced the wall-mounted telephone Fg Stat 23a in 1956. It was quite innovative in both its design, with the handset positioned perpendicular to the base, and its ergonomics. This telephone was one of the first plastic telephones in Europe and was available in four colours: black, grey, brown and ivory. The telephone was the wall-mounted version of the S-M-55 telephone set. The main innovation implemented was the placement of the electrical components not on the base of the telephone but on a separate intermediate zinc chassis, as in the office set. The first versions had a plastic braid as the handle cable in the same color as the set. Since 1970 and for as long as it has been manufactured, plastic spiral cables have been used. It faced the same two problems as the office device: firstly, because the processing of plastic was at an early stage, as was the creation of stable colors, with the slightest contact it would become scratched. There was also a change in the quality of the paint after some time and thus it lost its original shade. And the second thing is that the handle after some time opened at the seam. In Greece, the device was made available to telephone subscribers by OTE in the late 1950s to all of them. It was in operation until the mid-1990s, mainly in Public Services, mainly in common areas, canteens and elevators as an emergency telephone.