Ohio inventions and firsts · Invention · 1954
Ericofon, the one-piece telephone
The Ericofon put the handset, dial and ringer in one sculpted piece. It was designed in Sweden in the late 1940s by a team including Gosta Thames, Ralph Lysell and Hugo Blomberg, and North Electric Company of Galion made it for the North American independent telephone market.
At a glance
- Year
- 1954
- Company
- North Electric Company (Galion)
- Place
- Galion, Crawford County ZIP 44833 · Galion · Crawford County
Why it matters
Phaidon names it among the most significant industrial designs of the 20th century, and New York's Museum of Modern Art holds one. North Electric of Galion built the American version.
Who gets the credit is disputed
The Ohio claim. North Electric Company of Galion made the Ericofon for independent North American phone companies, offered it in many colors and added the Ericotone electronic ringer. Wikipedia's Galion page calls it the first one-piece telephone.
The other claims. The Ericofon was designed in Sweden by the Ericsson company's team, not in Ohio, and Ericsson started serial production in 1954. Galion's role was manufacturing for the North American market.
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.