Chatter Telephone
{{short description|Telephone shaped pull toy for toddlers}}
{{Infobox Toy
|name = Chatter Telephone
|image = Modern_Chatter_Telephone.jpg
|caption = Modern version of the Chatter Telephone
|type = Toy telephone
|inventor =
|country = United States
|company = Fisher-Price
|from = {{Start date and age|1961||}}
|to = present
|materials = Wood, plastic
|website =
|slogan = "Look who's talking now!"
}}
The Chatter Telephone is a pull toy for toddlers 12 to 36 months of age.{{cite news|url=http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/brands/babytoys/products/5663|title=Brilliant Basics™ Chatter Telephone®|work=Fisher-Price|accessdate=8 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130603020849/http://www.fisher-price.com/en_US/brands/babytoys/products/5663#|archive-date=2013-06-03|url-status=dead}} Introduced in 1961 by the Fisher-Price company as the "Talk Back Phone" for infants and children, which was updated to the name Chatter Telephone in 1962, is a roll along pull toy. It has a smiling face, and when the toy is pulled, it makes a chattering sound and the eyes move up and down. The toy has a rotary dial that rings a bell, and was conceived as a way to teach children how to dial a phone.{{cite web|last1=Coopee|first1=Todd|title=Chatter Phone from Fisher-Price (1962)|url=https://toytales.ca/chatter-phone-fisher-price-1962/|website=ToyTales.ca|date=11 April 2016 }}
The original version was made of wood, with a polyethylene receiver and cord.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7RkfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-5oEAAAAIBAJ&dq=fisher-price%20chatter%20telephone&pg=5061%2C966072|title=Louis Wiesel: Your Christmas Wond [sic] Fisher Price Toys|date=1963-12-05|work=The Tuscaloosa News|accessdate=7 March 2010}} In 2000, Fisher-Price changed the rotary dial for a push-button version with lights in an effort to modernize the toy, but consumers complained and the rotary version returned to the market the following year.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/10/business/where-did-you-go-raggedy-ann-toys-in-the-age-of-electronics.html?pagewanted=3|title=Where Did You Go, Raggedy Ann?; Toys in the Age of Electronics|last=Barnes|first=Julian|date=2001-02-10|work=The New York Times |accessdate=7 March 2010}} The Chatter Telephone was designed by Ernest Thornell,Shared in a phone conversation on 8-31-16 between Eric Smith and Mr. Thornell; he went on to share that the inspiration for the toy came from his daughter. whose daughter Tina would drag around a metal phone while playing. This gave him the idea of adding wheels, which with a bent axle permitted the movement of eyes, adding to the "whimsical" nature, that Herman Fisher desired of all Fisher-Price toys (from phone conversation with Ernie Thornell and recollections of Herm Fisher by John Smith).
From its introduction through the 1970s, the Chatter Telephone was Fisher-Price's best selling product.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=39ElAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XfMFAAAAIBAJ&dq=chatter-telephone&pg=3280%2C2693795 |title=Flash is fine but kids still go for classic toys |last=Moss |first=Meredith |date=1980-12-09 |work=The Miami News |publisher=The Cox News Service |accessdate=7 March 2010}} It has been cited as one of the company's offerings that helped save Fisher Price in the 1990s following a failed attempt to market toys for older children in the late 1980s,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PUAjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZuoDAAAAIBAJ&dq=chatter-telephone&pg=1666%2C8066537 |title=Kids Save the Day for Fisher Price |last=Germain |first=David |publisher=AP |newspaper=Gainesville Sun |date=1992-12-25 |accessdate=2010-03-07}} and enjoys continuing popularity.{{cite news|url=http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/36800434.html|title=Retro Toys|date=2008-12-28|publisher=WCTV Tallahassee Thomasville Valdosta|accessdate=7 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721022554/http://www.wctv.tv/news/headlines/36800434.html|archive-date=21 July 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}} It is available both as an authentic reproduction{{cite web |url=http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/item/productid/5761/txt/Fisher_Price_Chatter_Telephone_Toy |title=Fisher Price Chatter Telephone |publisher=www.backtobasicstoys.com |accessdate=7 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128113245/http://www.backtobasicstoys.com/item/productid/5761/txt/Fisher_Price_Chatter_Telephone_Toy |archivedate=28 November 2009 }} and in a modern form.{{cite web|url=http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=product&pid=5663|title=Chatter Phone-Fisher Price Toys|accessdate=7 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609231524/http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=product&pid=5663|archive-date=9 June 2011|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}
In popular culture
- In 1985, Fisher-Price offered to donate a Chatter Telephone, Rock A Stack, and Activity Center to NASA for Senator Jake Garn to play with while on the STS-51-D space shuttle mission. This offer was rejected as NASA felt there was insufficient time to test the toys for safety.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Gw0SAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C-8DAAAAIBAJ&dq=chatter-telephone&pg=6745%2C4345729|title=Space senator's toys must be borrowed|date=1985-02-24|work=The Spokesman Review|accessdate=7 March 2010}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
- In the 1999 movie, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Elmo owns a Chatter Telephone.
- The 2002 Venetian Snares album 2370894 features a melted Chatter Telephone on its cover art.
- In The Simpsons episode Moe Baby Blues, Maggie Simpson Is seen owning a Chatter Telephone.
- In 2003, the Chatter Telephone was listed as one of the 100 most memorable toys of the 20th century by the Toy Industry Association.{{cite news|url=http://www.allbusiness.com/manufacturing/miscellaneous-mfg-doll-toy-games-games/5673984-1.html|title=Toy Industry Association Announces Its "Century of Toys List"|date=2003-01-21 |work=All Business|publisher=Business Wire|accessdate=7 March 2010}}
- In 2005, the Chatter Telephone was chosen as one of Dr. Toy's Best Classic Toys.{{cite web|url=http://www.drtoy.com/2005_1/winners.html|title=Dr. Toy's Best Classic Toys, 2005|accessdate=7 March 2010}}
- A Chatter Telephone toy appears in the 2010 animated film Toy Story 3 as a supporting character, who has been at Sunnyside Daycare for many years, and helps Woody save his friends from Lotso, notably warning him about a cymbal-banging monkey who watches the daycare’s security cameras and alerts Lotso to toys attempting to escape. He is voiced by Teddy Newton and speaks with a film noir style, and a Brooklyn accent.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}
- The Chatter Telephone influenced an art car created by Howard Davis for his telecommunications company.{{cite web|url=http://www.thephonecar.com/ |title=The Phone Car |accessdate=10 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429005623/http://www.thephonecar.com/ |archivedate=29 April 2011 }}
- A Chatter Telephone appears on the cover of American rock band Thee Oh Sees' 2011 album Castlemania.
- A Chatter Telephone appears in the 2017 animated film The Boss Baby. He also appears in the sequel The Boss Baby: Family Business.{{Cite web |last=Sergey |date=2021-07-02 |title=Fisher-Price Chatter Telephone In The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021) |url=https://productplacementblog.com/cartoons-and-animation-movies/fisher-price-chatter-telephone-in-the-boss-baby-family-business-2021/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |language=en-US}}
- A Chatter Telephone prominently appears in the 2022 horror film Skinamarink.
References
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110609231524/http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=product&pid=5663 The official site of Fisher-Price for Chatter Telephone]
{{Fisher-Price Brands}}