The Lightbulb Moment
One day, by pure accident, I stumbled across an old post in a vintage home forum. There it was — a photo of a nearly identical niche… with a rotary phone sitting in it.
It hit me like lightning: This was a vintage telephone niche!
Back before phones fit in your pocket, most homes had one single telephone — usually mounted in a central hallway. And guess where it lived? Yep, in a built-in nook just like this one.
A Piece of Everyday History
These telephone niches were basically the original home phone booths. Some even had built-in shelves for phone books, pencil holders, and little lights. It was the communication hub of the home.
Teenagers whispered sweet nothings after curfew.
Moms jotted grocery lists while chatting.
And everyone took turns yelling, “Tell them I’m not home!”
