I regularly rehearse with my local amateur dramatic society and we put on plays etc for the public in our area. We are always on the look out for costumes or period pieces of furniture or props to make the play more realistic.
We were recently doing a play that involved obtaining a vintage phone – a 1920’s telephone to be exact which was to be used as a major prop during our play. Well, I search high and low and couldn’t find one until I went online to a company that sold novelty phones from period to futuristic from children’s ones to classic retro ones. Unbelievable I thought, after all the walking I had done round different shops in and around our area over the weeks leading up to our play.
The 1920’s vintage phone we bought online had the right colour, materials and features which were relevant to what we were looking for. No other telephone would have been right for the role.
Although it seems an expense rather than finding an old phone from a jumble sale or charity shop it was new and an exact copy of what we wanted. When our phone arrived it was packed very well so it was all intact with no scratches etc.
After using the phone for the play a colleague who I work with said it would go very well with her house as all her furniture was original period pieces handed down to her, so she bought the 1920’s vintage phone from the amateur dramatics society for her own use which she said works lovely and has even improved the clarity of her line when she chats to her friends!
After our experience trying to track down a certain type of phone then finding it online, I’d suggest to anyone to give using a novelty phone or vintage telephone a try. It can certainly bring a lot of fun and credibility to whatever you need or use it for.
