Most every piece of techÂnolÂoÂgy, no matÂter how simÂple, comes with a user manÂuÂal of some sort. Even the seemÂingÂly straightÂforÂward rotary dial phone.
Although AlexanÂder GraÂham Bell patentÂed the first teleÂphone in 1876, the first rotary dial phones didÂn’t make their way into AmerÂiÂcan homes until 1919. Then came the obligÂaÂtory tutoÂrÂiÂal. CreÂatÂed by AT&T in 1927 and origÂiÂnalÂly shown in theÂatres in FresÂno, CalÂiÂforÂnia, the silent film above breaks down the process of dialÂing a call–from using a phone direcÂtoÂry and findÂing a numÂber, to pickÂing up the receivÂer and lisÂtenÂing for that steady humÂming sound called the “dial tone,” to turnÂing and releasÂing the rotary dial mulÂtiÂple times, and so on. This primer would carÂry AmerÂiÂcans through 1963 when the first push-butÂton phones startÂed to pop up. That advent of the push-butÂton phone also came with a video, of course.
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via the PubÂlic Domain Review
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Hear the Voice of AlexanÂder GraÂham Bell for the First Time in a CenÂtuÂry
How Vinyl Records Are Made: A Primer from 1956
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