Ericofon
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The Ericofon is a "cult" telephone handset created by Ericsson. It was designed in the late 1940s by a design team including Gösta Thames, Ralph Lysell and Hugo Blomberg. A specific feature of the telephone is that the plastic cover is molded in one piece, and it is considered a landmark in plastic industrial design. The serial production began in 1954. The earlier models were only sold to institutions, but in 1956 production for the open market begun in Europe and Australia. In Sweden it is known as the cobra telephone, due to its similarity with the serpent.
Bell would initially not allow the introduction of the Ericofon to USA, but it soon became a best selling model. When it was introduced on the USA market, it was available in 18 different colors, but after subsequent transfer of the production to North Electric, the number of colors were reduced to 8.
The first Ericofons were entirely mechanical, whereas later versions were increasingly electronic. In 1967 a push-button version was introduced, called the TouchTone, and a later redesign attempt, the 700 model, was never very successful.