(Image caption: “A passenger in a plane of Northwest Orient Airlines makes a phone call relayed by radio”) Wonderful uses of the Phone by Richard F. Dempewolff Reaching over a shelf in her kitchen, a housewife pushes a button in a modern device similar to a transistor radio. “One, one, five, seven, five, eight, zero,” says the woman in front of the device microphone. A light turns on in the five centimeter screen in front of the device and the image of a man appears. “Joe,”, says the housewife, “do me a favor: please bring chocolate ice cream when you leave from work.” The man in the screen smiles and through a small speaker a manly voice says: “sure, I’ll be there in half an hour.”

(Mecánica Popular – latin-american version of Popular Mechanics, october 1958 – courtesy of hernún)