A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since Alexander Graham Bell pronounced the words, “Mr Watson—Come here—I want to see you”. Watson, listening at the receiving end in an adjoining room, heard the words clearly. The calendar marked March 10, 1876. Ironically, Bell never thought much about his invention. In fact it bothered him. He thought the invention was an interruption to this scientific work and refused to have a telephone in his study.
More than 135 years later, we still have the telephone alive, albeit it has changed dramatically to Bell’s original phone. Apple’s iPhone is light years ahead of the Bell’s primitive telephone. Today’s phones are more than communications gadgets; in fact, they are diminutive computers, yet very powerful.
At Mi Pueblito, I found a room displaying telephones used at the turn of the century. Some of them were exactly like the ones we had in our home in Changuinola. They were large, bulky and black. However the clarity of the communication was excellent. It was nice to see that somebody had taken care of these historic relics.
Now let’s plunge into the history pond and splash ourselves with the technological inventions of yesterday. Here we go.
Snapshot of an old desk with several telephones used during the forties and fifties. I recall we had a bulky black telephone set exactly like the one on the desk (right). Take notice of the antique telegraph set towards the left of the picture. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of an old telephone switchboard and a wooden wall telephone set. I used these wooden telephones when I lived in Changuinola. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of a telegraph accessory and a very old telephone set used at the turn of the century. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of an old wall wooden telephone similar to the ones used by the United Fruit Company in Bocas del Toro. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of a venerable wooden phone of yesteryear. It brought many memories of my youth in Changuinola. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
