Tin Can, the retro-tech brand that turned the humble landline into a screen-free gadget for children, is expanding beyond the phone for the first time. The company is introducing the Contact Keeper, a $40 modern spin on the Rolodex, and Twirly Cord Charms, a $20 pack of five accessories that let kids customize their devices. It is also releasing a translucent version of its core product, the Technicaller Clear.
The move follows a breakout year for Tin Can. Its flagship $100 phone, a Wi-Fi-enabled, screen-free landline with a chunky cord and dial tone, has sold out seven production batches since its June 2025 debut, equal to hundreds of thousands of units. Founder and CEO Chet Kittleson said the idea came after his daughter Emma complained about having to go through her parents to make plans with friends. «I was like, ‘Man, when we were kids, our first social network was the landline,’» Kittleson recalled.
While much of the screen-time debate has focused on adult products like dumbphones and app blockers, Tin Can targeted a less crowded niche: screen-free technology for kids. The bet has paid off. For most of the company’s history, customers waited two to three months for their phones because of limited stock and high demand. After investing heavily in supply chain, manufacturing, and operations, Tin Can has cut its standard shipping timeline to about three business days for the first time since launch.
The company’s primary marketing lever is word of mouth. Its free tier allows calling only to other Tin Can phones and 911, so the product spreads through classrooms and friend networks. Kittleson said that as word has spread, Tin Can has built a substantial user network that is making the phones their own.
Both new products grew out of observing how kids already used their Tin Cans. «One of the things we saw early on was people were doing all sorts of crazy, fun, innovative things at a very small scale for their community of friends to help their kids remember numbers and store them,» Kittleson said. Families bought old, clunky Rolodexes, and a secondary marketplace emerged on Etsy for handmade Tin Can phone books. The team decided to meet users where they were and design an official product to help kids remember friends’ and family members’ numbers.
The Contact Keeper works like an old-fashioned Rolodex. Inside are 20 cards where kids can write names and numbers, each removable and tradable among friends. The design is a chunky rectangle slightly larger than the phone, with each card held in a slot featuring one of the brand’s vibrant colors. When the clear plastic top is lowered, the cards flip back into place. Kittleson said the goal was to create something that felt uniquely Tin Can. «With a Tin Can, an adult is like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a landline,’ whereas a kid is like, ‘That’s a Tin Can, what the heck is a landline?’» he said. «We wanted the Contact Keeper to have the same feel.»
The Twirly Cord Charms follow a similar user-driven path. The dangly designs, similar to Croc Jibbitz, come in themed packs including Mostly Sportsballs, Mostly Nonsense, and Mostly Fish. Each has a Lego-hand-style clip that snaps onto the Tin Can cord or one of three included keychain adapters. Kittleson said the charms were inspired by videos of kids decorating their phones at home with bedazzling kits and other accessories. «We were trying to think of a really cool way for them to make the Tin Can feel like it was really owned by them,» he said. «One of the words we use a lot as a company is ‘agency.’ Even for a young kid, we want them to feel like the Tin Can is theirs—it’s not a thing they have to ask about.»
Unlike most toys on the market, Tin Can phones are gender neutral in design and marketing, and the charms follow suit. Kittleson said the categories were chosen to appeal to as many kids as possible while avoiding gendered stereotypes, with designs ranging from tennis rackets to a shrimp wearing headphones.
The expansion is part of a larger ambition for Kittleson: getting a Tin Can into the homes of every elementary and middle schooler in the nation. With a proven phone, a faster supply chain, and now a growing family of accessories, the company is betting that its screen-free approach can scale beyond the landline.