When Alexander Graham Bell invented the first phone, it was perceived by many as a mysterious object equipped with magical powers. Ironic, time likes to draw circles and again we end up longing for the imaginary magic, now enclosed in charming vintage objects, like these black bakelite phone lamps from Crosby Street Hotel, in New York.

...................................................................................................................................................................... The real bakelite telephone lamp was designed by lighting artist Alex Randall, as a part of the 'reclamation and renovation' series.
"The Bakelite Telephones were my first lighting piece and have been our best seller ever since. The phones are such wonderful pieces in their own right that it's wonderful to be able to return them to a useful purpose. I think people love them so much because like me, they remind them of past times. For me, I remember using my grandparents'. When they upgraded to a touch-tone phone my sister and I inherited the old phone for our playhouse. I remember all those times in there talking on the phone to the make-believe characters who were coming round for a cup of tea!"
"The Bakelite Telephones were my first lighting piece and have been our best seller ever since. The phones are such wonderful pieces in their own right that it's wonderful to be able to return them to a useful purpose. I think people love them so much because like me, they remind them of past times. For me, I remember using my grandparents'. When they upgraded to a touch-tone phone my sister and I inherited the old phone for our playhouse. I remember all those times in there talking on the phone to the make-believe characters who were coming round for a cup of tea!"

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And the real surreal: Aphrodisiac Telephone by Salvador Dali, 1938.






















































