1878

This is one of the first telephones used on the Swedish railways: one of the devices in the telephone connection between the station in Daglösen and the traffic office in Filipstad on the Bergslagen Line in Värmland.

Listening and speaking were done through the same receiver. The audio quality was somewhat questionable, with most of what was heard likely being crackling noise. Therefore, the telephone was not used in railway safety services for many years.

Graham Bell's first telephone was a tabletop device with a fixed receiver/microphone. It was patented in 1876. The following year, Bell had developed the design into a handheld telephone with a cord (shown here in cross-section).

The telephone apparatus from the Bergslagen Lineclosely resembles Bell's handheld telephone. It was manufactured by L. Öller & Co in Stockholm, where Lars Magnus Ericsson was an apprentice – before he started his own company in 1878 and soon became a significant competitor to his former employer.