Bell Telephone System's Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design

Histories of design pay scant attention to the corded telephone, which played an immeasurable role in early communication. Although the Bell System, with many Nobel Prizes, is justly acknowledged for its technical prowess, it should also be recognized for its early and considerable impact on the developing discipline of industrial design. In 1930, young Henry Dreyfuss, who would later become known as a pioneer of industrial design, was retained by the Bell System as a design consultant and matured in that environment. With substantial input from Bell System engineers, Dreyfuss and his staff produced attractive telephone designs that were manufactured and installed in more than one hundred million American homes and copied around the world. Featuring over one hundred illustrations, Bell Telephone System's Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design is a deep dive into the development and evolution of the corded telephone. A detailed case study of an object that would become so ubiquitous and commonplace, it is also the story writ large of the establishment and importance of the field of industrial design.

Ralph O. Meyer is a physicist with extensive publications in the fields of telecommunications and nuclear power safety. He has a PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Phi Beta Kappa key from the University of Kentucky. He is the author of Old-Time Telephones and coauthor of Henry Dreyfuss: Designing for People.

Acknowledgments Introduction PART 1: INDUSTRIAL DESIGN TAKES ROOT 1. Alexander Graham Bell's Telephone in a Box 2. An Unexpected Configuration Change 3. Rapid Domestication PART 2: A 20-YEAR DESIGN DROUGHT 4. The Grand System of Universal Service 5. It's Only Applied Decoration 6. Central Batteries and the Booster Circuit 7. Simplification and Standardization PART 3: DESIGN BLOOM 8. Theodore Vail, Patron of the Arts 9. The "French Phone" Has a Handset 10. Problems Solved for a New Handset 11. Handset Dimensions PART 4: DESIGN'S GROWING PAINS 12. Complaints About Appearance 13. Small Changes Make a Big Difference 14. Design Misstep in the Bell System 15. The Bell System's American Competitors Follow Suit PART 5: THE ART DECO AND BAUHAUS PERIODS 16. The Iconic Prewar Bell System Telephone 17. New International Designs Emerge 18. Henry Dreyfuss and the Myths PART 6: POSTWAR IN THE BELL SYSTEM 19. Bell Labs Versus AT&T Headquarters 20. Finally, a Comfortable Handset 21. The Postwar Bell System Standard Telephone 22. Transistors and Push-Button Dialing PART 7: OTHER VARIANTS AND DESIGNS 23. Copies of the Bell System Standard Telephone 24. The Bell System's Bedroom Telephone 25. The Dial-in-Handset Telephone 26. Whimsical Bell System Designs 27. Innovative International Designs Conclusion References Index About the Authors