Al Franken Receives Mysterious Call From The 70's On The Super BoobaPhone!
From page 71 in Popular Mechanics (August, 1975), the mini-article reads:
Artist Bob Ebers thinks the standard telephone is too sterile-looking and lifeless. So he's created a series of "People Phones" -- humorous characterizations made of plywood and odds and ends of hardware. The figures -- in about a dozen types -- all incorporate actual working phones. They've attracted so much attention they're now selling for $150 to $300 from Bob Ebers, 35 West 20th St, New York NY 10011.$150 - $300? That's a lot of money back now.
posted by Silent-Porn-Star at
9:40 PM
5 Comments:
I was a close friend of Bob Ebers when I was a kid. I have one of those phones, and it still works great. All the parts are from vintage 50's to 60's phones. Mine is dated 1975.
Forgot to mention, this phone model was titled "Ma Belle." Others were "Lucite Blue Man" and "Alexander Graham Grump", but "Ma Belle" sold the most.
I'm not surprised Ma rung consumer bells the most ;)
I'd love to see your phone -- in living color... Care to share a photo?
Yeah, I can send some photos of my Ebers phone. It looks more amazing in full hot pink and blond color. The story of Bob Ebers is pretty fascinating. A real free spirit. I never saw the Popular Mechanics article before. There is a full page piece in Playboy from 1971, an article in New York Times, and Bob was on the Today show and What's My Line. This was all when the real Ma Bell, the phone monopoly, still required you to rent a phone. Technically, these phones were illegal.
Jim sent in his fab photos & I've posted them here -- thanks, Jim!
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