Toy Telephone (1970s) : the clatter of tiny feet

This little toy telephone is an example of how the phone has become a universally recognisable part of everyday culture.

The lightweight, 7cm tall, plastic toy was made as a novelty gift; the sort of present that would end up inside your stocking, be played with for a few minutes and probably forgotten.

The key on the side winds up a clockwork mechanism that powers the little legs. Simply let go and it scoots along the floor, or the top of a table, at a surprisingly nippy speed, until it slows down as the spring runs down before finally lumbering to a halt.

The fact that such a toy could be mass produced and sold around the country (even if the keypad design wasn't quite correct) demonstrates how used to the phone everyone had become. The once-serious telephone has been trivialised into a children's toy.