The evolution of telephones
Alexander Graham Bell spoke the words "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you," into a phone similar to this one.
Top box - 1879
This 1879 top box wall set was made with mahogany wood and Viaduct Manufacturing Co. hardware.
Gower-Bell telephone - 1880
The Gower-Bell telephone was the first type of phone that was used in countries like Spain, Japan and England.
Western Electric folding cabinet - 1892
The Western Electric folding cabinet was used in hotels, telephone booths and private homes.
Strowger 10 Digit Automatic Wall Telephone - 1899
The Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company's 10 digit automatic wall telephone was the first to use an automatic rotary motion dialer.
Wood cradle desk telephone - 1885
Not much is known about the manufacturer of this unique wooden cradle desk telephone dated around 1885.
Stromberg-Carlson tapered shaft desk set - 1900
Made by the Stromberg-Carlson Telephone Mfg. Co., these types of upright desk sets were nicknamed "oil cans" by antique telephone collectors because of its unique shape.
Kellogg corner vanity - 1902
This corner vanity's elegant frame made by American Hardwood Telephone Cabinet Mfg. Co. The telephone hardware was made by Kellogg Hardware.
Chicago upright desk set - 1905
This upright desk set made by the Chicago Telephone Supply Company is often called "potbelly" because of its curvy shape."
Strowger 11 digit desk telephone -1905
Legend has it that Almon Brown Strowger was a mortician that believed his local operator was directing all business calls to his competitor, who happened to be her husband. Strowger felt that subscribers should have control over calls rather than operators. He patented the automatic telephone exchange a.k.a. dial service in 1891, eliminating the need for an operator to direct calls.
S.H. Couch & Co. inter-phone - 1910
These S.H. Couch Company desk sets were typically used to interoffice communications.
Magnavox anti-noise desk set - 1920s
The Magnavox anti-noise desk set is an early example of noise-cancellation technology. The phone began to make gain popularity in the military in the 1920s.
De Veau Desk Set - 1915
This sleek desk top was made by the De Veau Telephone Manufacturing Company.
Frankfurt "Bauhaus" Telephone - 1925
The Frankfurt "Bauhaus" Telephone was made by the Fuld & Co. in Frankfurt, Germany.
Hungarian Telephone Factory - 1937
This rotary phone was made by the Hungarian Telephone Factory in Budapest, Hungary.
Rotary phone - 1940s
A typical 1940s rotary phone.
Rotary phone - 1950s
A typical 1950s rotary phone.
German Fe TAp 615
A common phone in the 1960s through 1980s.
Videophone - 1960s
An example of a videophone in the 1960s.
Princess phones - 1970s and 80s
These princess phones were popular from the 1970s through the 1980s.
Dutch phone - 1975
A typical Dutch phone in 1975.
AT&T Picturephone (Mod II) - 1970s
One of the first videophones by AT&T.
AEG telecar CD - 1980s
This is how mobile phones looked in the 1980s. It was backbreaking work to to utter the words "can you hear me now?"
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X - 1983
Behold the first commercial line of mobile phones launched in 1983.
Touch-tone phone - 1980s
If you were a teenager in the 1980s, this touch-tone was your best friend.
Touch-tone phone - 1980s
A typical table-top phone in the 1980s.
Motorola MicroTAC 9800x - 1989
Only really important people and early adopters had one of these cell phones.
Cordless phone - 1990s
A typical cordless phone in the 1990s.
Seimens AG GSM phone - 1991
The first GSM phones were not sleek or sexy.
IBM Simon - 1994
The IBM Simon is widely considered the first smart phone.
Nokia 8210 - 1999
Nokia dominated the wireless market with cell phones like this one.
Motorola StarTAC - 1996
The flip phone craze started with this Motorola cell phone.
Sharp J-SH04 - 2000
Available in Japan, the Sharp J-SH04 was the first camera phone.
BlackBerry 5810 - 2002
The first introduction to the "CrackBerry."
BlackBerry 7210 - 2003
The first BlackBerry with a color screen.
Palm Treo 600 - 2003
The Palm Treo was an addictive PDA and phone combination.
T-Mobile G1
The T-Mobile G1, also known as the HTC Dream, was the first mobile phone to use Google's Android operating system.
Motorola Razr v3 - 2004
Flip phones were at their peak when the Motorola Razr v3 hit the market.
BlackBerry Storm - 2008
The highly anticipated Storm was the first BlackBerry with a touchscreen.
iPhone - 2007
The smartphone that arguably changed our lives forever. The iPhone's operating system allowed users to browse full webpages, triangulate positioning with Google maps and easily download apps.
Nokia Lumia 800
This Windows 7 smartphone introduced Microsoft's "metro" user interface.
iPhone 6
An employee of Softbank mobile phone shop displays Apple's new iPhone 6 (R) and iPhone 6 Plus (L) at the company's Omotesando shop in Tokyo, Sept. 19, 2014. Over 200 customers queued up for Apple's new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus before opening the shop.
