Blanche Bates, 1902
Vintage Photographs September 7th. 2008, 10:41am
From 1902 comes this photograph of Mrs. George Creel, professionally known as Blanche Bates. (1873-1941) Her renown is based primarily on her prowess as a stage actress, although she also made three appearances on the silent screen. In this obviously posed image, Blanche posses with a wall phone, just 25 years after the invention of the device. You can see a bigger version of the photo here.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Interesting that this woman is on the phone only 25 years after it’s invention. My mom tells me that their first phone was in 1956. Dad hated the telephone his entire life, mainly because it allowed work to find him at home and so he saw it as an invasion of his private life. It was his job that required them to get a phone in 56′, and until his death in 96′ he never made peace with the telephone. We used to go up in the mountains to a little mobile home at the lake on weekends, mainly so dad could fish and escape the dreaded phone. (there were no lines up there) I imagine that he would hate with a passion the cell phone era.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:36 am
I can’t help but think of “The Honeymooner’s”, when Ralph didn’t want a phone because the bus company would call him to pull extra shifts. I had a similar experience in the ’80s with cell phones and pagers… they made it impossible to forget about work!