Telephone & Alexander Graham Bell

Once Alexander Graham Bell invented the first telephone, no one was interested. Alexander Graham Bell tried to attract people passing by with his telephone but no one took it seriously. He even tried to sell it cheap to Western Union but they also rejected it.

Alexander Graham Bell 's telephone & The birth of the Bell Telephone Company

Finally, Alexander Graham Bell came up with his own plan. Alexander Graham Bell would give demonstrations of it everywhere he could, until somebody, somewhere, realized its potential. Alexander Graham Bell launched his own publicity campaign, inviting journalists, scientists, investors, and business leaders to every demonstration. At last, the idea caught fire. People began to order telephones, and in July of 1877, The Bell Telephone Company was formed to meet the demand. One of the first people to order the new telephone was writer Mark Twain. In characteristic style, he quipped to the installers: "If Bell had invented a muffler or a gag, he would have done a real service."

Lawsuits against Alexander Graham Bell and the Bell Telephone Company

Alexander Graham Bell didn't take an active role in the telephone business, but he had no choice but to take an active role in the courts. After the telephone became successful, there were endless lawsuits - as many as 600 - filed by people who said they'd invented the instrument first. The most serious complaint was from inventor Elisha Gray who'd been working on the same idea simultaneously to and independent of Alexander Graham Bell. His suit, and several others, progressed all the way to the Supreme Court. In every case, Alexander Graham Bell won.

More development and improvements on the Bell Telephones

There were still refinements to be made on the telephone and Alexander Graham Bell worked on those, and other inventions in his lab, late at night, sometimes after a full day of teaching. Alexander Graham Bell often worked through the night altogether and then slept through the mornings. Late night hours were a habit with Alexander Graham Bell throughout his life. This was a constant frustration to Mabel, who felt Bell's schedule made him tired and nervous. She tried to get him to switch to more normal hours but he resisted, saying his best ideas came to him late at night. Eventually, Mabel accepted that she would never change him. She once told him she was going to paint his portrait - and when she did it was a picture of white owl.

The telephone had been a product of Alexander Graham Bell ' youthful genius - he lived 45 more years after it was invented and although those years produced nothing as famous, they were productive and energetic years. Alexander Graham Bell dedicated the second half of his life primarily to the service of the deaf. He had made himself useful to those who could hear - now he would make himself useful to those who could not.