The design evolution of the phone over the last 80 years is astounding
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In 1876, inventor Alexander Graham Bell patented the first phone: a bulky device with a curved mouthpiece and earpiece connected by wires. It looked much different than the iPhones of today.
In celebration of the phone's 140th birthday this year, we're taking a look back at the design evolution of the device.
The Cooper Hewitt museum recently digitized more than 200,000 items in its collections, including one that chronicles obsolete phones located in its storage facility. Check out some of these phones below, starting with a classic rotary from the late 1930s.
In the 1930s, famed industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss created what many consider to be the first modern telephone: the Model 302. Its design signaled a departure from earlier models: the ringer is in the phone (instead of a separate component), the cradle lies horizontally, and you speak and listen to the same piece resting on top.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design MuseumSource: Slate
After the Model 302, AT&T realized it could sell the phone to the masses. The phone's traditionally square base was replaced by a slimmer design with a touchpad, called the Trimline, first produced by the phone company in 1965. Buttons for "*" and "#" were added too.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design MuseumAs the 1960s went on, phones got even smaller. The Grillo Cricket, created by Italian designers Marco Zanuso and Richard Sapper, can fold up, setting it apart from other phones at the time. The clam-shell shape influenced the design of the modern flip phone.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design MuseumSee the rest of the story at Business Insider