Headphones grew out of the need to free up a person's hands when operating a telephone. There were several iterative products that were predecessors to the "hands-free" headphones. By the 1890s the first device that is unmistakably a headphone was made by a British company called Electrophone, which created a system allowing their customers to connect into live feeds of performances at theaters and opera houses across London. Subscribers to the service could listen to the performance through a pair of massive earphones that connected below the chin, held by a long rod.