Telephone apparatus, replica of Bell's first telephone, 1923

What it is

This is a photograph of a wooden replica telephone apparatus on a wooden base, with a copper-wound electromagnet coil above a round white diaphragm disc and brass adjustment knobs. A brass plate states that the model duplicates the instrument through which speech was first transmitted electrically in 1875. The museum record describes it as a model or replica of Bell's first telephone, handed over in connection with the 1923 Gothenburg exhibition. The creator is listed as Bell Co. The object is held by the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology.

Why it matters

The record explains that the first working telephone was long thought to be Bell's invention. It also notes that two similar patent applications were filed at the New York patent office on the same day, 14 February 1876, with Bell two hours ahead of his rival Elisha Gray. The record also states that a 2003 Senate decision credited Antonio Meucci, who had demonstrated his teletrophone in 1860. Replicas like this show how the invention was remembered and displayed.

Look closer

• What parts of the apparatus can you identify, and what do you think each one does?
• Why would a company or museum make a replica rather than display the original?
• What does this replica leave out about the disputes over who invented the telephone first?