How AT&T created the most iconic phone ever.

Well, The Phone was called the Western Electric 500, and when landline phones ruled the world, the Western Electric 500 ruled the landlines. It was so ubiquitous for so long that even if you’ve never touched a landline, you’ve encountered the 500. Looks like a 500.
On this episode of Version History, we tell the story of the Western Electric 500, and the deeply strange world it came to represent. Nobody really thought about it, it didn’t even matter what it was called – it was just The Phone.