“Call Father Christmas” service

Hull Telephones (now KCom), 35-37 Carr Lane, HU1 3RE

In 1952, Hull Councillor J.M. Stamper heard a recorded message service in Scandinavia, and came up with the idea of a “Call Father Christmas” telephone service; soon after, the service was launched. It was the first service of its kind in the UK, in which children could ring a Hull telephone number and hear recordings of a Christmas story and carol singing. Hull Telephones employees wrote and performed the stories, and the first story attracted 20,000 callers. In the following year, after national and international media coverage, there were 35,000 callers. This success led to other similar services, such as Bedtime Stories, Teledisc and Telechef.