For more than a century the landline telephone was the fastest and easiest way to communicate. Starting with rudimentary numerical systems and telephone lines, the entire system had to be expanded upon exponentially with each decade as the home telephone grew from a niche piece of technology to a ubiquitous part of the household admin. Sadly, the beautiful and well-made phones many of us grew up using are now relics of another age, and the advent of touch tone technology means that even if you have a landline and plug in an old phone, you won’t be able to use it for all calls. However, these old workhorses are very interesting to look at and came in a huge variety of colors and designs.
The Siemens FetAp 611-2a (above) was made in the 1970s and featured a smooth, integrated cradle for the headset. This model came in many colors and was mainly marketed in Europe.