ERICOFON
The Ericofon is a telephone created by the Swedish Ericsson company, a provider of communications technology and services.
Doesn't ring a bell? Ericofon is also known as the Cobra Phone because its similarity to a snake.
This telephone was designed in the late 1940s, while serial production started in 1954. Although the first models were sold to institutions only, in 1956 the Ericofon was sold on the European and Australian market. In the USA, the Ericofon was distributed by North Electric.
When the Ericofon was introduced in the USA, initially a set of 18 colors was available. Below you can find a beautiful overview of all colors. For special promotions, a chrome and gold plated ericofon was introduced. Also an orange version, specifically used by the British post office and a clear version were available. Accent green, charcoal, nordic blue and royal dubonnet belong to one of the most rare colors.
The original Ericophone was produced in 2 different designs, the old case and the new case. The old case was molded in two pieces, while the new case was molded as a single piece. The reason for design change was only to accomodate molding. Also clearly visibile, the new case was shorter and more angled.
In 1976, a third version was introduced, namely "Model 700". It is very different compared to earlier Ericofons, mainly by its squarish design. This model was part of the centennial celebration of the LM Ericsson company. It was only produced in Sweden. Ericsson gave the phone the nickname "Centenary Ericofon". Model 700 Ericofons were available in five colors: green, brown, white, blue and orange.
The holy grail is definitely the centenary edition of the Model 700. Only about 325 were made and given away to dignitaries and company officials during the centennial celebration.
Next to the condition, the price is heavily depending on the color of the phone.
A fair price for the regular colors (e.g. bright white and red) in a very good condition would be around 70€. However, if you are looking for a specific color, this price can go up very quickly to a couple of hundred euro. For Model 700, next to the gold version, the blue version is the hardest to find. Do not be surprised if you see this phone listed on ebay for more than 500€. I'm unable to give a price indication for the gold Ericofon 700, but it will be definitely an expensive call!
Source pictures: JO JE BIN, Ericofon and Paul Kuijpers