A column mounts on a base housing and mounts a lever for pivotal movement between an "off-hook" and an "on-hook" position. A portion of the lever is an arm of a fanciful character which holds a telephone handset. The column attaches the character to it and the base housing. The lever has a collar in receipt of the column and an actuation tab from the collar for sliding contact with a nose of a finger of an actuator. The actuator transmits off-handset and on-handset signals to a hook switch in the base housing. A pivot bracket mounts the lever on the column diametrically opposite the finger and character arm and outwardly and away from the column. The lever moves through a comparatively small angle for a comparatively large displacement of the end of the lever represented by the arm of the character. A platform of the pivot bracket bears against laterally extending ribs of the column and attaches to the column by a fastener and hook-and-slot engagement.