Nothing in our everyday life best epitomises the progress of science and design than the telephone.
Uncle Sam’s lifelong love affair with the telephone began with the visit of a repairman when he was a child. He became one himself when he grew up because he was so intrigued by this amazing machine. After his retirement, he began collecting and repairing vintage telephones. To him, the development of the telephone service in Hong Kong is just as fascinating as the device itself.
Cheng Po Hung is a telephone memorabilia collector. His collection provides him with a lot of fun facts about the history of telephone service in Hong Kong.
科技巨輪越行越快，有人急起直追，有人卻逆流而行，深覺越舊越美麗！木製燭台式德律風(德律風即Telephone)、重量級攪盤電話、火車頭電話，在新世代中聞所未聞，絕對是『舊石器時代』產物。
電話迷Uncle Sam，十一歲時被上門修理電話的叔叔所影響，從此對『千絲萬縷』的電話著迷不已。1967年加入『香港電話有限公司』，到偏遠地方上門維修電話。離職後開始收集舊電話，二十年間收藏約一百部舊電話，閒時以維修古董電話為樂，『沒有電話在我手裡是救不到的！』是他的口頭禪。
除了收集舊電話，一切與電話有關的歷史也能觸動Uncle Sam的神經線。1930年之前，電話仍未出現自動接駁系統，打電話要靠接線生人手接駁，當時的接線生以外國人為主，因為華人並未習慣使用電話，申請電話者亦多是外商，集中在中上環、灣仔一帶。
收藏家鄭寶鴻亦收藏了一些舊電話單據和剪報。1895年電話被稱為『電器傳聲器機』，為當時一大奇物。1951年，打電話到新界要另付三毫子。從五六十年代所謂『開牆鑿洞』共享電話的年代，直到人人手中一部智能手機，電話，一直在生活上起著翻天覆地的變化。
