We might not have Siri if it weren’t for 1972’s Hot Lite.

Want to make your own wireless phone? Don’t forget to grab your stovepipe! The First Car Phone: July 1919 PopSci archives

Remember making your own wireless phone for 25 cents? Remember the stovepipe antenna? Neither do we. But without all the wacky, experimental telephone technologies of the past century, today we might still be fumbling along without touchscreens and voicemail.

In this archive gallery, we pay our respects to the (admittedly goofy) predecessors of the modern smartphone.

See the gallery.

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February 2013: How To Build A Hero

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