French telephone

English

Etymology

In the early 20th century, telephones with handsets were not common in the United States. Many American soldiers encountered them in France during World War I.

Noun

French telephone (plural French telephones)

1. (US, telephony, dated) A telephone with a handset.
   • 1933, Pennsylvania. General Assembly. Senate, Journal (part 1, page 281)

     An act prohibiting telephone corporations of this Commonwealth from imposing, for the use of hand telephones commonly called 'French telephones,' a charge in excess of fifteen cents per month […]

   • 1999, Rudi Voti, The Facts On File Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Society, page 1012:

     Rotary dials also were used on the so-called "French" telephones introduced in Europe at first and then the United States in the late 1920s.