The Phone

 

  I'm accused of being addicted to my phone. That's not true. If I had lived before 1876, I could have gotten along very well without a phone. I would have sent a telegram to let people know I'd be late, and I would have written letters for all the rest. And there was always tin cans connected with string for fun. 

  The ancient Chimu people of Peru made an acoustic telephone in the seventh century of the current era. It was made of gourds and twine and the only example in existence is too fragile to test. It sits in the Smithsonian Institution's storage facility in Maryland for safekeeping so you can’t see it. I’ve included a photo below.

  Even after Alexander Graham Bell proved that an electrical phone could work, the acoustic telephone remained in production. These phones were effective up to half mile. At first with Bell's system, you had to string a separate line for each person you were calling, just like with the acoustic phone. 

  Once Bell's initial patent expired everyone jumped into the business and soon the switchboard was invented. The switchboard meant the end of the acoustic phone which went the way of the buggy whip.  Wait. The buggy whip was still going strong back in the 1870s.

  Who actually invented the telephone is still a matter of controversy. Ask the Italians and they’ll tell you you it was Antonio Meucci. A German will name Johann Reid.  But it was Alexander Graham Bell who tested his "apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically" on this day in 1876. “Mr. Watson, come here; I want you.”

  Bell had submitted his patent the same day as his chief rival Elisha Grey. Grey’s lawyer had actually submitted Grey’s patent application first thing in the morning. Bell’s application didn’t come in till noon. The patent examiner was a friend of Bell’s lawyer and Grey’s supporters cried foul.

  There were lengthy lawsuits over who invented what and when. Bell teamed up with Edison and they crushed all opposition. It took awhile for the phone to catch on. At first it was mostly business men running a line from their office to home to see if they needed to pick up anything for supper. Now, a hundred and fifty years later, who sends telegrams anymore? And if it wasn’t for Christmas and Mother's Day, the letter would be dead too.

World’s first phone, invented by Gordo Chimu, or so he claims.