| Name | Tantuszos MATART |
| Date | 1934 |
| Manufacturer | Standard Villamossági Rt., a telephone and electrical equipment manufacturer associated with the international ITT group |
| Credit | With thanks to- www.postamuzeum.hu |
Tantusz token mechanism 1934
This Hungarian public telephone bears the badge of Standard Villamossági Rt., a telephone and electrical equipment manufacturer associated with the international ITT group. Established as a separate company in 1928, Standard produced telephone apparatus and exchanges for Hungary’s expanding telecommunications network. The photographed instrument is catalogued by Budapest’s Telefónia Museum as dating from 1934. mandadb.hu
Designed for wall mounting and outdoor service, it has a tall black sheet-metal cabinet, a prominent rotary dial and a handset hanging on the left. The handset cord is enclosed in a protective metal sheath. A framed instruction card occupies the lower front panel, while a small plate identifies the instrument as property of the Royal Hungarian Post.
The museum describes this example as operating with a telephone token, or tantusz. Inserting the token provided a dial tone, allowing the caller to dial. Returned tokens rolled into an external receptacle, while collected payments entered a compartment secured by a separate lock. www.postamuzeum.hu
Standard’s surviving technical documentation from 1928 confirms that its payment-collecting telephones could be configured for either ordinary coins or substitute tokens. This makes the manufacturer’s badge consistent with the telephone’s function, although the precise model designation and any later alterations remain unconfirmed by the available museum catalogue entry
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