The futurist wave swept through 20th-century homes and quickly touched countless devices. We've already seen its influence on televisions with the unforgettable Philco Predicta leading the charge, and what it did (or planned to do) in a critical sector like the kitchen. But we'd be making a serious mistake if we forgot the Ericofon, a telephone marketed by Ericsson starting in 1954. It's a true head-turner, appeared in dozens of films and series, and the web offers plenty of units, both both original and replicas...
Design and Origins
History tells us that the Ericofon's design began in late 1940 with a team including Gösta Thames, Ralph Lysell, and Hugo Blomberg. Up until then, the handset and the dialing mechanism were separate components, but the Ericofon was the first commercial telephone to adopt an all-in-one format.
Known in other regions as the 'cobra phone,' the Ericofon entered general production in 1954. Initially, only a few institutions had access, and it became relatively popular in hospitals thanks to its mute version that had no 'bell.'
The American Resistance
The Ericofon reached European and Australian homes in 1956, but the American market put up some resistance. The main problem was that Bell Telephone, using and abusing its monopoly, refused to authorize third-party telephones on its network.
After many complaints, Bell finally gave in and allowed an initial "institutional and limited" use of the Ericofon, while still charging a rental fee as if the phone belonged to the company. The original number of colors was 18, and despite what the images suggest, it was never produced in black (the 'charcoal' model is very close).
Bell had plenty of reason to fear the Ericofon. Sales in the US exploded (exceeding production capacity by 500 percent), and in response, Ericsson became the majority partner in the company manufacturing and selling it across the pond, North Electric.
Later Years and End of Production
The market spoke, and Ericsson decided to drop the least popular colors from its catalog, bringing the total down to 8. In 1967, the first Ericofon with TouchTone technology debuted, but a design flaw left it unusable if it fell too hard on the table.
North Electric halted US production of the Ericofon in 1972. However, the 'Model 700' was launched in 1976 to celebrate Ericsson's 100th anniversary. It had a keypad instead of a dial but was not Touch Tone; it only dialed in pulses, never sold well, and never crossed the Atlantic.
The images say it all: it looks great wherever you install it, and it's much more uncomfortable to use than we'd imagine. Now, if only a wireless version… existed.
Source: Ericofon.com
https://old.neoteo.com/los-telefonos-publicos-reliquias-modernas-galeria/Retro Ad Gallery
