A video has been uncovered which appears to show the world’s first ever mobile phone… all the way back in 1922.
The clip shows two well dressed women in New York carrying the heavy-looking device which they connect to a fire hydrant via a long cable.
An umbrella is then erected, which appears to act as an aerial, and the pair to use the phone to make a call.
They are then shown chatting to an operator who then plays a gramophone record for them.
Mark Harris of British Pathe said, “It’s amazing that nearly 90 years ago mobile phone technology and music on the move was not only being thought of but being trialed
“One of our researchers came across the clip and we were amazed that the idea was so old, we are used to budding technologies appearing in the 1950s and 60s but this is four years before television was first demonstrated.
“The phone even has a lid which makes it the first flip-phone we are aware of, although it is probably not going to win any design awards.”
The film is still something of a mystery to British Pathe as there are limited notes with the canister, and they are appealing for anyone with more information to contact them.
