Throwback – The Sports Illustrated Football Phone

Looking back, it's hard to believe we ever ditched landline telephones.

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Back in 1986, the world was introduced to the iconic Football Phone, a free gift that drove sales of new subscriptions to Sports Illustrated magazine to new heights and created a cultural fad.

The football phone, and its follow-up -- the sneakerphone, drove new subscriptions to the magazine up 1.6 million between 1986 and 1991, according to Rolling Stone.

"In the end, the phones only cost Time Inc. about $4 each to manufacture and box; all they had to do was ship them to customers. Compare that to the $55 annual subscription rates SI was pulling in and you see how each new phone boosted the bottom line." -Rolling Stone

I remember having one in our house as a kid, and the phone part falling out of the football every time you flipped the phone open to answer it.

Here's what they looked like back in their hey-day.

The sneakerphone had and even more adorable ad campaign, if you can believe it. Instead of showing off a football phone at a stadium, they prank customers in a shoe store.