It won’t fit in your palm or snap a photo of your Yorkie, but in 1892 this hand-cranked "Eiffel Tower" phone was the hot new thing. Designed by inventor Lars Ericsson, the skeleton-style telephone was among the first with an actual handset. It can be seen alongside 30 rare telephones (including the one used to make the first transcontinental call) at the American Museum of Radio and Electricity in Bellingham, Wash.
(360) 738-3886, www.amre.us.