December, 1923 
65 
If there is a built-in cupboard in the 
living room the telephone might have 
a compartment of its own with a 
separate door. A chair or settee near¬ 
by adds to the convenience 
CONCEALING THE UNSIGHTLY TELEPHONE 
Because of its Present Unprepossessing Appearance 
The Instrument Should be Heard and not Seen 
I T is a curious fact that the telephone, 
probably the most indispensable of all 
our modern luxuries, has been allowed to 
retain its original unprepossessing aspect. 
Even when painted to harmonize with 
the surroundings, it strikes a discordant 
note by the very ungainliness of its lines 
which no amount of painting or deco¬ 
rating can transform. 
There is only one thing to do with the 
telephone—-conceal it. Not by small 
screens of tapestry or leather that are 
absurd and ungraceful and merely call 
attention to the fact that something un¬ 
desirable is behind them. Nor by the 
dreadful boudoir dolls all befrilled and 
petticoated in the manner of Madame de 
Pompadour. These arrangements not 
only do not conceal but add a vast a- 
mount of inconvenience. The most satis¬ 
factory and convenient way of concealing 
the telephone is to place it in some piece 
of furniture in the room that has a com¬ 
partment large enough to hold it. 
Hanging cabinets, chests, small com¬ 
modes or built-in cupboards are ideal 
places in which to keep the telephone. 
There is no lack of convenience, for when 
the bell rings, one merely has to open a 
door to take out the instrument. When 
not in use how much better to have it 
tucked away in some charming piece of 
furniture than to be constantly con¬ 
fronted with its ugly lines. 
Small chests of drawers in oak or wal¬ 
nut can have the three drawers in the 
middle taken out and a door put on. 
Into this place the telephone fits nicely. 
The sketch on the opposite page shows a 
chest of this kind that would be suitable 
for a living room, library or hall. 
Another solution for a hall telephone is 
a graceful hanging cabinet. This is prac¬ 
tical in a narrow hall where there is no 
space for a table. On a fibrary desk a 
book-box might do the concealing. An 
Italian or Spanish hall might have its 
telephone in a niche in the wall masked 
by an ornamental iron grill. In this case 
the instrument should be painted the 
color of the plaster background to be as 
inconspicuous as possible. 
This graceful book-front commode 
might stand beside the bed. It pro¬ 
vides an excellent place for the 
telephone in the upper compartment 
behind the sliding front made to 
simulate old books 
