Western Electric 500: How AT&T created the most iconic phone ever

For years, even decades, virtually everyone in the United States had the same phone. Nobody really thought about it, it didn’t even matter what it was called – it was just The Phone. Well, The Phone was called the Western Electric 500, and when landline phones ruled the world, the Western Electric 500 ruled the landlines. It was so ubiquitous for so long that even if you’ve never touched a landline, you’ve encountered the 500. The Phone app on your iPhone? Looks like a 500.

On this episode of Version History, we tell the story of the Western Electric 500, and the deeply strange world it came to represent. David Pierce, Nilay Patel, and professor and author Tim Wu go all the way back to the invention of the phone to explain how AT&T came to rule the telephone industry, and how its monopoly status granted it the exclusive right to put whatever phone it wanted in your house. That power was tested many times, and undergoes new siege right around the time of the 500. Still, this phone represents AT&T at the peak of its powers — and it was a pretty good phone, too.

This is the sixth and final episode of the third season of Version History. Thanks to everyone who has listened, watched, and shared the show! We’ll be back in six weeks with a whole new set of stories to tell. Here’s how to get every episode, and all our other fun stuff, as soon as it drops:

If you want to know even more about the history of AT&T, landlines, and the Western Electric 500, here are some links to get you started: