Paris Spurns the Telephone

Abstract

Summary: Development of the Parisian telephone network at the end of the last century reflected prevailing uses of the device. While domestic use was still rare, even in the upper classes, the telephone was fairly widespread in business areas. By the 1920s the number of private subscribers had increased considerably in the wealthy districts and suburbs of Paris, but the telephone remained a device reserved essentially for professional purposes, and supply was to exceed demand until after the Second World War.