We are delighted to announce our partnership with the Museo della Telefonia Pubblica (Public Telephone Museum) in Alberi (PR), one of the largest in the world dedicated to this sector. We also announce that Leonmario Moretti, director and founder of the Museum, will be present at the PIM with some pieces on display and others available to collectors.
Let’s get to know Leo better…
Leonmario Moretti, known to his friends as Leo, has cultivated a passion for telephones and telephony since he was a child, with the desire to own a 1950s telephone he had seen on TV. But above all, it was his fascination with telephone booths that sparked a prolific search for information and materials on public telephony.
And so, year after year, Leo’s collection grew to staggering numbers, reaching 99% of its production in Italy and enriched with unique pieces. This prompted Telecom Italia to hire him through its services company Business Partner.
With the telephone stations now almost definitively dismantled, he chose to end this work experience and dedicate himself to the creation and maintenance of the Museum, which opened to the public in the summer of 2025.
…and the Museum
There are more than 500 exhibits, from all over Italy and around the world, spanning the entire history of telephony.
As soon as you arrive at the Museum, Leo himself will lead you on a guided tour, starting in the courtyard filled with telephone booths, each unique, and then exploring various rooms brimming with telephones, gadgets, and memorabilia.
We begin right at the origins, from antique indoor booths from the 1930s with the phone book at hand, to those from the 2000s, passing through specific installations such as the one created for the Jubilee 2000, entirely made of self-supporting glass.
Also very distinctive are the structures built specifically for the City of Venice, entirely made of salt-resistant steel, and the wooden mountain booths, created for Cortina and the entire Cadore area.
All that’s left to do is come and see for yourself.
Some unique pieces
The prototype telephone for sending faxes with a phone card, the device specially made for journalists at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy with a dedicated phone credit card, and the full-scale reproduction of the first street phone booth in history, commissioned by director Michael Mann for the 2023 film “Enzo Ferrari”, are some of the unique pieces awaiting you during the visit.
Even more astonishing are the first public telephone for the deaf and dumb, the large container containing numerous telephone stations for the soldiers of Nasiriyah, and the transparent telephones from Expo 1961 and 1971.
Contacts
The museum can be visited by reservation only, by calling +39 3204208790 or through the Museum’s Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/museotelefoniapubblica/).
Admission is free, but donations to support the costs of this exciting project are welcome.
