A Prescient Comic Strip From the 1920s That Predicts the Inconvenience of ‘Pocket Telephones’

A rather prescient comic strip by W.K. Haselden released in either a 1919 or 1923 issue of the Daily Mirror predicted the existence of “pocket telephones” and the inconvenient times in which they would ring. While the form and sound of Haselden’s illustration might differ from modern iterations, the idea is still the same.

The lastest modern horror in the way of inventions is supposted to be the pocket telephone. We can imagine the moments this instrument will choose for action! We shall certainly be rung up at the most awkward moments in our daily lives.

As it turns out, rumors of a “pocket phone” have been ringing around the world since 1906. A man named Charles E. Alden claimed to have created a device that could easily fit inside a vest pocket and used a “wireless battery such as is used by the Marconi system”. Whether Alden’s invention came to fruition or if he was truly the father of the cell phone is still very much unknown.

via Miss Cellania