British moviegoers in 1959 marveled at the latest miracle of modern technology -- a radio setup that lets you make and receive phone calls in your car.
This clip from the newsreel company British Pathé describes how two radio stations let drivers within range make calls to any phone in Britain and Ireland. In the video, stilted callers demonstrate how to place a call.
Be sure to stay to enjoy the facepalmmy sexist humor at the end.
Want another? This 1959 British Pathé newsreel features a retina-burning green handset and a demonstration of a gloriously complicated homemade answering machine. It's followed by a professionally made electronic answerphone that looks equally formidable.
And finally, these resourceful 1922 flappers make their own mobile phone out of some wire and a fire hydrant.
"It's Eve's portable wireless 'phone -- and won't hubby have a time when he has to carry one!" says the title card.
Won't he just?
Love the hats.
— Mitch Wagner, 
, West Coast Bureau Chief, Light Reading. Got a tip about SDN or NFV? Send it to [email protected].
But before then, people didn't have cars. Yes, they could run into the hills, but then what? You still needed to come into town some time for clothes and maybe food and so on. And towns were very small and everyone knew each others business! So, yes, we now have electronic nosybuddies but we used to have...real nosybuddies! And it was difficult to get your hands on any kind of currency if you weren't a nobleman, a tradesman or .. a thief! All of which required access to some kind of society.