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 dev...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Online |
| Language: | English |
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Purdue University Press
2025
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| Online Access: | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101878 |
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| _version_ | 1869521233463214080 |
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| author | Meyer, Ralph O. Flinchum, Russell A. |
| author_browse | Flinchum, Russell A. Meyer, Ralph O. |
| author_facet | Meyer, Ralph O. Flinchum, Russell A. |
| author_sort | Meyer, Ralph O. |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | 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. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-159639 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Purdue University Press |
| publisherStr | Purdue University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-1596392025-05-17T05:07:45Z Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design Meyer, Ralph O. Flinchum, Russell A. industrial design;Bell telephones;Henry Dreyfuss;Bell Laboratories;Western Electric;AT&T;Automatic Electric;Kellogg;Stromberg-Carlson;British General Post Office;Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company Antwerp;Ericsson;Siemens;William Channing;Harold Dodge;George Lum;Robert Hose;Donald Genaro;Jean Heiberg;Ralph Lysell;Richard Sapper;Marco Zanuso;handset;design history thema EDItEUR::T Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes::TB Technology: general issues::TBD Technical 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. 2025-05-17T05:07:44Z 2025-05-17T05:07:44Z 2025-05-16T08:58:39Z 2025 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101878 9781626711082 9781626711099 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/159639 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/101878/1/9781626711112_WEB.pdf Purdue University Press ab0dc43b-863c-4471-84ed-f90e748ed075 9781626711082 9781626711099 216 open access |
| spellingShingle | industrial design;Bell telephones;Henry Dreyfuss;Bell Laboratories;Western Electric;AT&T;Automatic Electric;Kellogg;Stromberg-Carlson;British General Post Office;Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company Antwerp;Ericsson;Siemens;William Channing;Harold Dodge;George Lum;Robert Hose;Donald Genaro;Jean Heiberg;Ralph Lysell;Richard Sapper;Marco Zanuso;handset;design history thema EDItEUR::T Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes::TB Technology: general issues::TBD Technical design Meyer, Ralph O. Flinchum, Russell A. Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design |
| title | Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design |
| title_full | Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design |
| title_fullStr | Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design |
| title_full_unstemmed | Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design |
| title_short | Bell Telephone System’s Preeminent Role in the Growth of Industrial Design |
| title_sort | bell telephone system s preeminent role in the growth of industrial design |
| topic | industrial design;Bell telephones;Henry Dreyfuss;Bell Laboratories;Western Electric;AT&T;Automatic Electric;Kellogg;Stromberg-Carlson;British General Post Office;Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company Antwerp;Ericsson;Siemens;William Channing;Harold Dodge;George Lum;Robert Hose;Donald Genaro;Jean Heiberg;Ralph Lysell;Richard Sapper;Marco Zanuso;handset;design history thema EDItEUR::T Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes::TB Technology: general issues::TBD Technical design |
| topic_facet | industrial design;Bell telephones;Henry Dreyfuss;Bell Laboratories;Western Electric;AT&T;Automatic Electric;Kellogg;Stromberg-Carlson;British General Post Office;Bell Telephone Manufacturing Company Antwerp;Ericsson;Siemens;William Channing;Harold Dodge;George Lum;Robert Hose;Donald Genaro;Jean Heiberg;Ralph Lysell;Richard Sapper;Marco Zanuso;handset;design history thema EDItEUR::T Technology, Engineering, Agriculture, Industrial processes::TB Technology: general issues::TBD Technical design |
| url | https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101878 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT meyerralpho belltelephonesystemspreeminentroleinthegrowthofindustrialdesign AT flinchumrussella belltelephonesystemspreeminentroleinthegrowthofindustrialdesign |