Heemaff Dutch Phone bought at British Vintage Wireless Society Show 12 May

[migette]

This phone turned up today at the above show, I had not got an example of this model but left the show with 3, two blacks needing a little loving care and this one which cost me an arm and a leg (lots of money). What is nice is the colour, I know a white was made but not seen this version, the inside is immaculate and very well made, this company also turned out heavy engineering goods. Funny enough when I got it home it did not work and this did take away trust in the seller as I found all 3 conductors in the h/s had gone dis so he must of known there was a fault, having those other 2 helped and cord was changed, the bad cord was the thinnest I have seen on any phone. All is well and another nice phone has been added. This also shown on my You Tube Channel. I can recommend this model known as the 55 I think.

[unbeldi]

You are correct, it is a Heemaf model 1955.  You have a very pretty example in this two-tone set. I sure would be curious as to the value of it. The ivory color is gorgeous, and I am wondering if they made others, like the light pistachio green hue that I have seen only in model #1951.

Around 1950, the Dutch PTT asked three telephone manufacturers to design new lines of telephone for the Dutch telephone network. Heemaf, the domestic electronics and equipment maker who had previously worked with the PTT, was one of them along with Ericsson and another (Siemens, Philips?).  This model was designed by industrial designer Gerard Kiljan, working at Heemaf, and is often described as the 'Bat mobile' phone, and the similarities are interesting and fun.

The internal electronics was pretty much prescribed by the PTT, and is almost identical between the phones from the participating makers, even the components are often so similar that they are hard to distinguish. I have even seen Ericsson handsets on these Heemaf housings, and this seems to lead to a lot of confusion about the origin of the phone, despite having the Heemaf logo pretty clearly molded into the hookswitch plunger tops.  The phone was made well into the 1960s, perhaps until 1966 when Krone designed the more 'modern' looking and lighter plastic phones for the PTT, the T-65 or so.

A later version of the 1955 had a different, translucent finger wheel, at least on the black version.  Heemaf also made a wall-mount companion telephone of this design, pictured here below, except mine does not have the rotary dial, but a Philips push-button dial of unknown function to me. I have seen even the desk version having this kind of dial.    The inside electronics gear looks virtually identical to the desk phone.

Nice find if you can find it....

[teka-bb]

Hello Migette,

Interesting find. I have one that is all ivory (very rare):

Does yours say HEEMAF or Philips on the plungers?

[unbeldi]

Hello Migette,

Interesting find. I have one that is all ivory (very rare):

Does yours say HEEMAF or Philips on the plungers?

Do ANY of them actually show anything else but the Heemaf logo on the plungers? I have examined a few of these and it is my impression that the housing assembly with plungers is always by Heemaf, but that the housing seems to be paired with other handsets occasionally, like an Ericsson handset.  The handset in yours (all ivory) and in Migette's two-tone appear to be the Heemaf handsets as in my desk and wall models.

Beautiful ! If you find another please do let me know.

[teka-bb]

My ivory one says Phlips on the plungers and I also have one or two black ones with (a) Philips (logo)  on the plungers.

[LarryInMichigan]

My black one has "HEEMAF" on the plungers.  It has the same style handset as migette's.  As far as I am aware, the three companies which made Dutch PTT phones were Heemaf, Ericsson-Rijen, and Standard Electric.  I have all three in black.  Large quantities of these phones were imported into the USA around the 1970s by Tandy Corp for sale in Radio Shack stores.

Larry

[Matilo Telephones]

A cracking good find. I'm very very jealous. A collector in Holland would pay hundreds of Euros for it.

These white ones, as far as I know, were never made for the PTT. Therefor I would not expect it to have the ptt logo on the earthing button. That is strange and intriguing. I also am very curious what would be on the plungers.

Furthermore, I would very much like to know if there is a schematic inside and in what language it is. Also what the bottom of the phone looks like.

That would maybe make it possible to determine for who this phone was made. If it was made for the PTT, it really is a very special find indeed. Perhaps it was a one off for somebody special or for a special occasion.

These phones were made by Heemaf for the PTT, but also for Philips. Philips supplied the, together with their exchanges as private systems all over the world.

The phones supplied to philips had a blank earthing button, a whire mesh over the sound holes, at the bottom, and a bi-lingual schematic inside. I've seen several combinations. Furthermore the lettering on the bottom is different from the PTT-version.

I have seen 3 variants of logo's on the plungers. The Heemaf logo with recessed detail, common. The philips-logo on the version supplied to philips (but sometimes these had the Heemaf logo) and the heemaf logo with raised detail. That is very uncommon.

AFAIK the Philips logo is exclusive to desk phones. I have never seen it on the wall-version.

As for the 3rd producer for the PTT, that was NSEM de Nederlandse Standard Electric Maatschappij. The Standard phones are the rarest of the 3 producers.

As for the handset question. Handsets often break, because the are easily dropped. The PTT wasn't very particular as to what model they replaced it with. They often just used the Ericsson receiver on all phones. So you often find an Ericsson handset on a Heemaf phone. Adding to the confusion as to who actually made it.

[unbeldi]

A cracking good find. I'm very very jealous. A collector in Holland would pay hundreds of Euros for it.

These white ones, as far as I know, were never made for the PTT. Therefor I would not expect it to have the ptt logo on the earthing button. That is strange and intriguing. I also am very curious what would be on the plungers.

Furthermore, I would very much like to know if there is a schematic inside and in what language it is. Also what the bottom of the phone looks like.

That would maybe make it possible to determine for who this phone was made. If it was made for the PTT, it really is a very special find indeed. Perhaps it was a one off for somebody special or for a special occasion.

These phones were made by Heemaf for the PTT, but also for Philips. Philips supplied the, together with their exchanges as private systems all over the world.

The phones supplied to philips had a blank earthing button, a whire mesh over the sound holes, at the bottom, and a bi-lingual schematic inside. I've seen several combinations. Furthermore the lettering on the bottom is different from the PTT-version.

I have seen 3 variants of logo's on the plungers. The Heemaf logo with recessed detail, common. The philips-logo on the version supplied to philips (but sometimes these had the Heemaf logo) and the heemaf logo with raised detail. That is very uncommon.

AFAIK the Philips logo is exclusive to desk phones. I have never seen it on the wall-version.

As for the 3rd producer for the PTT, that was NSEM de Nederlandse Standard Electric Maatschappij. The Standard phones are the rarest of the 3 producers.

As for the handset question. Handsets often break, because the are easily dropped. The PTT wasn't very particular as to what model they replaced it with. They often just used the Ericsson receiver on all phones. So you often find an Ericsson handset on a Heemaf phone. Adding to the confusion as to who actually made it.

Thank you for contributing your knowledge on these telephone models. In the US it is rather hard to find reliable information about them and they don't seem to get a lot of respect from collectors, despite what I think is an interesting, and IMHO stunning design.

For how long were these made and installed in Holland? I just came across an example made in 1970, a date which kind of surprised me.

[migette]

Sorry for not thanking you all I am really pleased with all your comments this has been a very busy year thanks again   Peter

[Contempra]

No problem Peter have a great day.

[Matilo Telephones]

Yes, unbeldi, it is somewhat underestimated. I think the fact that Radioshack or Tandy sold them for dump prices may have contributed to that. And the fact that the were e bit messy, with wrong cord and handsets.

Here they are appreciated more, also because it´s designer, Kiljan, is renound.

It was made from 1955 till the late sixties at least. The youngest I had ever seen was from 1969. As you have one from 1970, apparantly it was made till 1970 or even later.

Strange indeed, as Heemaf produced the t65 Phone since 1967 or so, next to the 1955 model.

[unbeldi]

Yes, unbeldi, it is somewhat underestimated. I think the fact that Radioshack or Tandy sold them for dump prices may have contributed to that. And the fact that the were e bit messy, with wrong cord and handsets.

Here they are appreciated more, also because it´s designer, Kiljan, is renound.

It was made from 1955 till the late sixties at least. The youngest I had ever seen was from 1969. As you have one from 1970, apparantly it was made till 1970 or even later.

Strange indeed, as Heemaf produced the t65 Phone since 1967 or so, next to the 1955 model.

I just posted a topic about my find in the Collector's Corner (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=10534.0). I suppose it's a special distinction to have a phone here in the US of a later date than you experts in Holland :-)

[Matilo Telephones]

It is indeed. Please note that I have about 30-35 of them in my house. (wall and desk).

I enjoyed your pics and responded to them.