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Minitel 1
Minitel 1 terminal manufactured by Telic Alcatel.
Pathfinder Videotex Hat
The "Pathfinder" patch on this yellow hat refers to trial of Canada's Telidon videotex system that ran from 1982-1983 in the province of Saskatchewan.
Matracom MO5 Terminal
This Minitel 5 terminal by Matracom was designed for portability. It features a monochrome LCD on a hinge. The ports on the rear of the device include a second telephone jack for use with a carphone.
Serial cable
This serial cable features a standard DB25 connector on one end and the 9-pin DIN connector on the other. It was bundled with a kit that included software for connecting an Amstrad PC to a Minitel terminal.
Magis
This is a Minitel terminal by Magis. It features a chip-card (also known as a "smart card") reader. The chip-card reader enabled a number of applications, from online payments using your regular bank card, to sophisticated professional banking…
Minitel Carrying Case
Leather case designed to hold a Minitel terminal. We found this item on ebay and had never seen one before. We believe this is a tailor-made, one of a kind item, possibly made for a traveling salesman. It fits a Minitel 1, 1B, and our American…
Olivetti Printer
Thermal printer connects to the serial port on a standard Minitel. Note that the industrial design of the printer is meant to match the typical coloring of the Minitel 1 and 1B terminals.
Philips Minitel 2 (USA)
This Minitel 2 terminal was manufactured by Philips for the US market.
Alcatel ADF 258 (Italy)
This terminal is an Alcatel 1B re-purposed for the Italian market. It was distributed by SIP (Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico), the Italian monopoly telephone company
Alcatel V2000 (USA)
This Alcatel M1B/US (branded as "Alcatel V2000") was manufactured in 1990 by Telic Alcatel for US Friden. This particular machine is #47 in the series. It was part of a batch shipped to San Francisco as part of a venture called "101 Online." The…
3614 Auditel Pin
3614 Auditel Pin
3614 Elfaz Keychain
Not all Minitel was pink. The keychain below advertises the site of a butane-propane distributor.
3614 Top Reno Pin
3614 Top Reno Pin
3615 Aficion Pin
3615 Aficion Pin
3615 Air Pur Pin
3615 Air Pur Pin
3615 Asterix Pin
3615 Asterix Pin
3615 Belgique Pin
3615 Belgique Pin
3615 British Rail Pin
3615 British Rail Pin
3615 CAF Pin
3615 CAF Pin
3615 Coke Pin
3615 Coke Pin
3615 COLLEC* PINS Pin
3615 COLLEC* PINS Pin
3615 Consul Plus Pin
3615 Consul Plus Pin
3615 Contact FM Pin
3615 Contact FM Pin
3615 Ecubank Pin
3615 Ecubank Pin
3615 EDIFI Pin
3615 EDIFI Pin
3615 FNAIM Pin
3615 FNAIM Pin
3615 FOOT Pin
3615 FOOT Pin
3615 FOOT Pin
3615 FOOT Pin
3615 Golf Club Pin
3615 Golf Club Pin
3615 Pin
This pin celebrates the 3615 network and bears an appropriate pink color.
3615 IMIDO Pin
3615 IMIDO Pin
3615 JEUTEL Pin
3615 JEUTEL Pin
3615 Laetitia Pin
3615 Laetitia Pin
3615 Lipstick Pin
3615 Lipstick Pin
3615 LOTO Pin
3615 LOTO Pin
3615 LUCKY Pin
3615 LUCKY Pin
3615 Mbrico Pin
3615 Mbrico Pin
3615 Mbrico Pin
3615 Mbrico Pin
3612 Minicom Pin
3612 Minicom Pin
3615 NAFNAF Pin
An ad for the Minitel site of Naf Naf, a clothing company.
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Navy Pin
3615 Nintendo Pin
3615 Nintendo Pin
3615 RTL Pin
3615 RTL Pin
3615 Sancerre Pin
3615 Sancerre Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tiens Pin
3615 Tigermania Pin
3615 Tigermania Pin
3616 Ecubank Pin
3616 Ecubank Pin
3628 Kompass Pin
3628 Kompass Pin
36 37 Telethon Pin
36 37 Telethon Pin
Athos Pin
Athos Pin
BNP Point Minitel Pin
BNP Point Minitel Pin
Canon Pin
Canon Pin
Depaepe Telecom Pin
Depaepe Telecom Pin
EGT Paran Pin
EGT Paran Pin
France Telecom 42C Pin
France Telecom 42C Pin
France Telecom 5,000,000 de Minitel Pin
This pin was produced by France Telecom to celebrate the production of the 5,000,000th Minitel terminal.
France Telecom GP Pin
France Telecom GP Pin
L'Annuaire Soleil Pin
L'Annuaire Soleil Pin
Le 11 Pin
Le 11 Pin
Le 11 Pin
Le 11 Pin
Le 11 Pin
Le 11 Pin
Le Journal Téléphone Pin
Le Journal Téléphone Pin
Les Pages Jaunes Pin
Les Pages Jaunes Pin
Les Pages Jaune Pin
Les Pages Jaune Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Les Pages Soleil Pin
Mirabel Pin
Mirabel Pin
ODA Pin
ODA Pin
Philips Telematics Pin
Philips Telematics Pin
Photim Pin
Photim Pin
Sernit Pin
Sernit Pin
Televille Pin
Televille Pin
Video Poste Pin
Video Poste Pin
Alcatel Web Touch Easy
This is a hybrid terminal designed to access both the Minitel (Teletel) network and the Internet. This model is equipped with a pointing stick, but others used a trackpad. The web browser it used was HotJava, developed by JavaSoft (part of Sun…
Apple Newton eMate 300
This laptop Apple Newton features a slick handle for portability
Hedman check protector
Found this beauty at the W6TRW Amateur Radio Club Swap Meet on the Nothrop Grumman parking lot in El Segundo, CA. Not Minitel related, but so nice we couldn't pass on it.
Alcatel Sillage
Don't be fooled by the small size of this slick designed Minitel terminal. Among other things, it included a powerful address book. The lead engineer on the France Telecom side was Bernard Louvel, who was on the original team led by Jean-Paul…
Standard issue rotary phone
This is a standard issue rotary phone. These would be plugged into Minitel terminals and used to dial short codes such as 11 or 3615. This particular holding was manufactured by Dunyach & Leclert in Plazolles, France, under procurement contract…
Alcatel Minitel 12
Most Minitel terminals were single units where the keyboard was attached to the screen. Minitel 12 terminals departed from this tradition. The handset rested atop the keyboard and connected through a wire to a separate CRT unit.
Thomson MO5 expansion pack
Expansion pack for Thomson MO5
Thomson MO5
Thomson MO5 were 8-bit computers. They are remembered in France as part of Le Plan Informatique pour Tous, a State program where over 100,000 machines were distributed in French school starting in 1985. They were used to teach pupils programming…
Thomson joystick
Joystick for use with the Thomson line of microcomputers (MO5, T07)
Thomson light pen
Light pen for use with the Thomson line of microcomputers (MO5, T07)
Thomson MO5 cassette drive
Thomson MO5 cassette drive
Alcatel Sillage 1000
This slick-looking mini-Minitel features a tiny screen and a phone combo. Built in 1995.
Noe Willer, "...Sur Minitel" (Atoll Music, 1986)
Noe Willer "...Sur Minitel"
A: ...Sur Minitel 5.12 (N. Willer/ N. Willer-M. Devaux) D.R.
Production: Nelly Seberg - King Kong Music
Programme Synthe: M. Devaux
Arrangements: N. Willer
B: Hollywood* 3.45 (N. Willer) D. R.
Production: Nelly…
A: ...Sur Minitel 5.12 (N. Willer/ N. Willer-M. Devaux) D.R.
Production: Nelly Seberg - King Kong Music
Programme Synthe: M. Devaux
Arrangements: N. Willer
B: Hollywood* 3.45 (N. Willer) D. R.
Production: Nelly…
Marie-Paule Belle, "Mini-Minitel" (Carrere, 1987)
Marie-Paule Belle"Mini-Minitel"Roméo ProductionCarrereA: Mini-Minitel 2'58 (Françoise Maillet-Joris/Marie-Paule Belle) Arr: Serge PerathonerB: Chez Pivot * Paroles: Françoise Mallet-Joris **Musiques: Marie-Paule BelleArrangements: Serge…
Liaison, "Minitel... Miniquoi?" (France Kangourou, 1987)
Liaison
(Kernoa/Jean S. Berger)
"Minitel... Miniquoi?"
A: Minitel - Miniquoi 6'24 (Version Remix - Sp�cial Club)
B1: Minitel - Miniquoi 3'57
B2: Minitel (Version DJ) 1'29
B3: Minitel - Miniquoi (instrumental) 3'58
Arrangements: C. DI…
(Kernoa/Jean S. Berger)
"Minitel... Miniquoi?"
A: Minitel - Miniquoi 6'24 (Version Remix - Sp�cial Club)
B1: Minitel - Miniquoi 3'57
B2: Minitel (Version DJ) 1'29
B3: Minitel - Miniquoi (instrumental) 3'58
Arrangements: C. DI…
Screenshot of 3615 ULLA
Pornography has historically been a driver of new communication technologies. Minitel was no exception. As of December 2011, the popular 'pink Minitel' site '3615 ULLA' was still drawing significant crowds to chat rooms. Below is one of 15 pages…
Screenshot of 3615 portal
This is a photo of a 3615 portal from June 2011. This is the point at which you might enter a short code such as PLNUIT or ULLA to access a 3615 service. If you look closely, you will see that the portal also offers a searchable directory and…
Screenshot of 3615 IUTB
As of June, 2011, the Minitel site of Bordeaux University's communication school was "temporarily unavailable."
Screenshot of 3615 TELNET
'3615 TELNET' was an email system that also enabled one to send text messages to cell phones from a Minitel terminal. Last visited June 2011.
Screenshot of 3614 DDE14
The Minitel site of the roads & bridges government agency was also "temporarily unavailable" as of June of 2011
Screenshot of 3618 Minitel a Minitel
'3618 Minitel a Minitel' was a real-time one-on-one chat room operated by France Telecom. Last visited June 2011.
3614 Gestcomptes 2 (LOG-ACCESS)
3614 Gestcomptes 2 is a telebanking kit for owners of Atari ST computers published by LOG-ACCESS. The kit includes a diskette with software to run on the PC and a serial cable for connecting to a Minitel terminal. There were advantages to this design…
Kit de Telechargement pour Amstrad CPC (AZURSOFT, 1988)
This is a "download kit" for owners of the Amstrad CPC home computer, published in 1988 by AZURSOFT. The kit includes a diskette with terminal and file-transfer software as well as a serial cable for connecting the Amstrad PC and Minitel terminal.
"Le Minitel" Trading Card
This is a trading card with general information about the origins of Minitel published in 1989. The photo on the front of the card depicts a typical installation of Minitel terminal equipment in the home. While a PC might be stored in a home office…
3615 FFT Promotional Sticker
This is a promotional sticker for 3615 FFT, a service run by the French tennis federation.
Advertisement for 36.15 PIFTEL
This is a magazine ad for PIFTEL, the Minitel site of PIF, a weekly comic magazine for children published by the French Communist Party. At its peak, PIF printed up to 1 million copies. This ad presents PIFTEL as an online companion to the printed…
Cooper, the Minitel Dog
Special Agent Dale Cooper likes to hang out around Minitels being hacked.
ASCII art on a Minitel 1B
Documentation from a Minitel hackathon, July 28, 2011
Miguel Mennig, L'Indispensable pour Minitel (1987)
Miguel Mennig's L'Indispensable pour Minitel (1987) is a guide to the world of Minitel with material aimed at both the casual and hardcore miniteliste. In addition to a directory of services and peripheral buyer's guide, Mennig's book features…
Christian Tavernier, Les Secrets du Minitel (1985)
Les Secrets du Minitel is another trade book aimed at the Minitel enthusiast. Editions Techniques et Scientifiques Françaises published the first edition in 1985 and a second edition in 1988.
Pierrick Bourgault, Minitel et Micro-Ordinateur (1985)
This how-to book was aimed at tech-savvy microcomputer owners. It offered information about using Minitel terminals as modems and running DIY Minitel services out of the home. Published in 1985 by SYBEX.
Simon Nora and Alain Minc, The Computerization of Society (1978)
The 1978 "Nora-Minc report" to the French President of the Republic, named "The Computerization of Society," was a landmark document that helped define French telecommunications policy, and was the precusor to the introduction of Minitel in the…
Marie Marchand, The Minitel Saga: A French Success Story (1988)
The Minitel Saga by Marie Marchand is one of the few books about Minitel published in English. In 2016, Lori Emerson, founding director of the Media Archaeology Lab, scanned and shared a copy of this hard-to-find book. For more information, see:…
France Telecom letter, 1991
A 1991 letter from France Telecom to its clients lauding the French telecommunications system as one of the most modern in the world. Indeed, "[i]n 1989, Minitel made France the world's most 'wired' country" - (James Gillies & Robert Cailliau, How…
France Telecom Price List (1991)
The 1991 France Telecom Price list, including Minitel's access and per-minute prices. Connecting to the online phone book for 3 minutes was free (for multiple searches, one would just disconnect and reconnect every 3 minutes to avoid being charged),…
France Telecom, Envoi: Les Pages Minitel (1994)
One of the original overt motivations behind the Minitel project was to digitize the phone book and save money on paper, printing, and distribution costs. Ironically, Minitel became so popular that France Telecom started printing a paper-based…
Julien Mailland and Kevin Driscoll, Minitel: Welcome to the Internet (2017)
Minitel: Welcome to the Internet grew out of this very lab. It was published in 2017 by The MIT Press as a part of the Platform Studies series. For more information, click on "About our book" at the left.
Telecarte 5 units
This set of 3 cards only contained 5 phone units. This indicates that they were produced not for being sold, but as collectors items which France Telecom gifted to various dignitaries.
Telecarte Sillage 120
This 120-unit card advertised Sillage, a device which combines a phone and answering machine with a Minitel terminal.
Telecarte Sillage 50
This 50-unit card advertised Sillage, a device which combines a phone and answering machine with a Minitel terminal.
Telecarte Switching to 10-digit numbers
This card reminded the citizenry that on October 18, 1996 at 23:00 hours, all French phone numbers would now feature a 2-digit area code in addition to the local 8-digit number. The indroduction of the 5 area codes multiplied by 5 the total of…
Telecarte 3612 Minicom 50 units
This card advertised France Telecom's own service, 3612 Minicom, a Minitel-to-Minitel email system.
Telecarte 3612 Minicom 120 units
This card advertised France Telecom's own service, 3612 Minicom, a Minitel-to-Minitel email system.
Telecarte 3614 France Telecom
This series of cards advertised France Telecom's customer service number, 3614 France Telecom. Note that one of our two holdings never got the smart chip embedded in the card and presents an unusual hole.
Telecarte 3615 Ford Fiesta Turbo Diesel
This card for 3615 Ford featured the Fiesta Turbo Diesel
Telecarte 3615 Ford Fiesta Hawaii
This card for 3615 Ford featured the rather unusual Ford Fiesta Hawaii
Telecarte 3615 Gites de France
This card advertised the 3615 for Gites de France, a chain of hotels and short-term rental properties
Telecarte 3615 Hollywood
Don't be mistaken, this card for 3615 Hollywood did not advertise the City of Angels or a movie reservation system, but a famous french brand of chewing gums.
Telecarte Winter Olympics
This card advertised 3615 COJO92, the site for the winter Olympics held in France in 1992
Telecarte 3615 Schweppes
This card advertised the 3615 for the popular ginger ale
Telecarte 3617 ASNAT
Advertisement for the Minitel site of the National Assembly. Note the higher per minute rate than average commercial service, using the 3617 access code
Telecarte - basic with no ad
This was Julien's first telecarte, found on the ground at his junior high school in Paris, circa 1986 or 1987. As it turned out, however, all of the card's credit had already been used. Because the card bears no ad, we know it was produced between…
Telecarte Le 11- the party
In a series of humorous cards, France Telecom advertised the advanced natural language search features of its yellow pages service, "Le 11". On this card, the lady states: "On 'le 11,' I typed 'Who can organize my party?' ... well darling, 'le 11'…
Telecarte Le 11 - the Chinese restaurant
In a series of humorous cards, France Telecom advertised the advanced natural language search features of its yellow pages service, "Le 11". On this card, the lady states: "On Le 11, I typed 'Chill Chinese dinner ... well, Le 11 really kicked butt:…
Telecarte Le 11 - the scooter's carburator
In a series of humorous cards, France Telecom advertised the advanced natural language search features of its yellow pages service, "Le 11". On this card, the teenager states: "On Le 11, I typed 'changing my scooter's carburetor' ... hey, can you…
Telecarte Le 11 - pumping iron
In a series of humorous cards, France Telecom advertised the advanced natural language search features of its yellow pages service, "Le 11". On this card, the teenager states: "On Le 11, I typed 'pumping my biceps' ... Le 11 gave me the contact info…
Telecarte Le 11 - Rocco
In a series of humorous cards, France Telecom advertised the advanced natural language search features of its yellow pages service, "Le 11". On this card, the old lady is having a hilarious time searching the yellow pages. The parrot she bought seems…
Telecarte - Magis black
An ad for the Magis terminal, which included a bank card and access-control card reader. See also the access-control cards in our holdings.
Telecarte Magis white
An ad for the Magis terminal, which included a bank card and access-control card reader. See also the access-control cards in our holdings.
Telecartes Minitel 2
A set of 2 cards (50 and 120 units) advertising the Minitel 2 terminal.
Telic ABCD
The first 110,000 terminals to roll out of the Telic Alcatel production line featured an alphabetical keyboard layout. France Telecom and Telic Alcatel were testing to see if path dependence could be beaten or if the AZERTY keyboard layout was to…
A farandole of terminals
Terminals chilling together at Julien's Los Angeles home
Belgacom Telecard
Belgian phone card
France Telecom Sticker
"I'm connected on Minitel, how about you? No... Well then go pick one up at your local France Telecom branch"
Magis Club Access Control Card
This smart card is preprogrammed for use with an advanced Minitel terminal. It promises easy access to a variety of services. The back of the card invites users to update its features by connecting to 3623 MAGIS.
Magis Club Access Control Card
This smart card was preprogrammed for use with Magis Minitel terminals. The packaging promises to make Minitel even easier to use.
Minitel terminal in a light box
Most of the macro photography in the archive was created using this DIY lightbox.
Taboo, "Crac Absolument" b/w "Complètement Dèchirée" (Just'In Distribution, Year Unknown)
A truly unusual pop single featuring two tracks by Taboo about a popular messagerie called Crac. The front of the sleeve depicts a partially nude Taboo flying over the keyboard of a Minitel terminal with the instructions "Telephone 3615 / Tapez CRAC"…
Man & Woman, "Sex on the Minitel" (2001)
This twelve-inch single features two high energy house songs cut at 45 RPM. Side A: "Sex on the Minitel" Side B: "Man & Minitel" The record is packaged in a clear plastic sleeve with a small sticker. The only liner notes are the artist's name and…
Envoi: L'Annuaire des Services Minitel (France Telecom, 1993)
This Minitel guidebook was published in 1993 by France Telecom. The preamble includes a short insert consisting of 16 full-color, glossy pages with technical details about various terminals, the schedule of fees, how-to information for beginners, and…
Le Guide du Minitel No. 3 (Fevrier 1988)
Another third party guidebook for Minitel. This edition of the "Le Guide" promises 4,500 services.
Listel: Repertoire des Services Teletel No. 5 (Janvier 1987)
Listel was a guidebook for Minitel services produced by a third party. It includes a much larger and broader range of services than the official directory published by France Telecom. The cover boasts 2,335 services.
Godefroy Troude, sysop, «Pinky» Minitel micro-serveur, 1986-1992
Godefroy Troude was the sysop of a Minitel micro-serveur called "Pinky" from 1986 to 1992. He shared with us two stories from his memories of that time: meeting a surprise user from Los Angeles online and listening to the sounds of data through his…
Minitel 1 bi standard: Notice à usage professionnel
Documentation for the Minitel 1b terminal equipment produced by Telic in 1986.
The Minitel 1b, also known as the "bi standard" Minitel 1, supported two modes: videotex and telematic. The videotex mode was used to access serivces on the Télétel…
Minitel Follies
"Minitel Follies" was published in Gay Comix issue 12 for Spring/Summer 1988. The six page comic follows the (mis)adventures of Fox as he looks for love on the Minitel. In the opening panels, Fox picks up a terminal from the local post office and…
Sticker for SECURITAM
Promotional sticker for the home security service at 3614 SECURITAM
Sticker for L'argus
Promotional sticker for 3615 ARGUS, a Minitel service attached to L'argus, a magazine about automobiles. The text refers to the used car services available online.
Sticker for Carte Jeunes
Promotional sticker for 3615 CJEUNES
Sticker for EVATEL
On this promotional sticker, 3615 EVATEL invites "smart travelers" to an online service with cheap flights, travel stories, forums, games, and more.
Sticker for la Fédération Nationale Aéronautique
Promotional sticker for the Fédération Nationale Aéronautique encouraging others to "become a pilot!" In the illustration, "3615 FNA" is inscribed on the wing of a prop plane. Today, the FNA is known as la Fédération française aéronautique.
Sticker for Footflash
Promotional sticker for 3615 FOOTFLASH, a service for football fans.
Sticker for Griottines cherries
Promotional sticker noting a Minitel service linked to Griottines cherries, a regional specialty of the Fougerolles.
La Cinq et M6 sticker
Sticker promoting Minitel services for privately-owned television networks La Cinq ("5") and M6. Based on the logos, this sticker was likely produced around 1987.