My family had a 4-party line with a black rotary dial desk phone back in the 1950s. I had to get permission to make a call and my mother always answered and screened incoming calls before I was allowed to talk. Those were the rules. Today every kid from 4 years old on up has unrestricted access to a smart phone and therefore to every pervert wanting to lure them into a bad situation. That's evolution at work I guess.
Knew some TPA (Telephone Pioneers of America) ladies, long retired, who told all sorts of strange and funny stories, from constant feuds heard by everyone on party line to emergency calls long before 911 or any training to handle them. One lady worked in a very rural area where the phone lines were actually miles of barbed wire fences running through fields and cattle areas.
We had our phone in the kitchen and mom answered it, all conversations were done there.... We had family friends that had a party line as late as the mid 70s.. Just like cars you could fix in your driveway those phones as basic no frills as possible.. JD
Forty-some years ago I had a 20-something guest of a neighbor knock on my door and ask to borrow my phone for an emergency call since the neighbor's was out of whack for some reason.
I said sure and showed him the phone where it was plugged in in another room. After about 20 minutes of silence I went to look and found him sitting in front of the silent phone, completely baffled by the rotary dial.
When 1st married in 1976, only had to dial the last 5 numbers in the 15,000 pop. town we lived in. That was until 1981 or so.
Generally, most houses had 1 phone but had 1 or 2 other plugs ins for its 4-plug cord attachment. We had 1 other in our bedroom. All East of the Mississippi Bell/Western Electric phones were manufactured in Burlington, NC.
We lived in Military housing until I was 18. Our phone number in Kaiserslautern Germany in the 1970s was KC51714. We only had to dial the 5 numbers for local calls.
K town ! I can remember when a bunch of us pulled a Saturday night 'raid' on one of the cathouses there. kinda remember that is. Germany was indeed a remarkable place
uhm...dont know the name of the one we went to in Ktown, BUT i DO remember that we had to go past there ( ramstien) to get back to spangdhalem, but i was never the one driving. plus, we didnt always go to Ktown. didnt matter where you went, it seems like the only thing there were more of than US military posts in germany was cathouses.
You couldn't miss the Annabella Haus. It had a huge sign with the Sex mit love motto on it right at the driveway and main road. Plus the building itself was HUGE.
I remember the old man wanting to call his folks and asking the operator to get him "Primrose5-1325". Weird that I still remember that # to this day. - WDS
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My family had a 4-party line with a black rotary dial desk phone back in the 1950s. I had to get permission to make a call and my mother always answered and screened incoming calls before I was allowed to talk. Those were the rules. Today every kid from 4 years old on up has unrestricted access to a smart phone and therefore to every pervert wanting to lure them into a bad situation. That's evolution at work I guess.
ReplyDeleteMy mom was a Bell operator for many years. She always had the greatest stories .
ReplyDeleteOne ringy-dingy, two ringy dingy.....
DeleteIs this the party to whom I'm speaking?
DeleteKnew some TPA (Telephone Pioneers of America) ladies, long retired, who told all sorts of strange and funny stories, from constant feuds heard by everyone on party line to emergency calls long before 911 or any training to handle them. One lady worked in a very rural area where the phone lines were actually miles of barbed wire fences running through fields and cattle areas.
ReplyDeleteI still have my folks phone. Basic black, probably weighs 5 lbs, and when I had a landline, it still worked.
ReplyDelete-lg
I have the magneto out of one of those old hand crank phones and once I turned it about 1/8th of a crank while I was holding it. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteWe had our phone in the kitchen and mom answered it, all conversations were done there.... We had family friends that had a party line as late as the mid 70s.. Just like cars you could fix in your driveway those phones as basic no frills as possible..
ReplyDeleteJD
Forty-some years ago I had a 20-something guest of a neighbor knock on my door and ask to borrow my phone for an emergency call since the neighbor's was out of whack for some reason.
ReplyDeleteI said sure and showed him the phone where it was plugged in in another room. After about 20 minutes of silence I went to look and found him sitting in front of the silent phone, completely baffled by the rotary dial.
When 1st married in 1976, only had to dial the last 5 numbers in the 15,000 pop. town we lived in. That was until 1981 or so.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, most houses had 1 phone but had 1 or 2 other plugs ins for its 4-plug cord attachment. We had 1 other in our bedroom. All East of the Mississippi Bell/Western Electric phones were manufactured in Burlington, NC.
We lived in Military housing until I was 18. Our phone number in Kaiserslautern Germany in the 1970s was KC51714. We only had to dial the 5 numbers for local calls.
DeleteK town ! I can remember when a bunch of us pulled a Saturday night 'raid' on one of the cathouses there. kinda remember that is. Germany was indeed a remarkable place
DeleteWas it the Annabella Haus (Sex mit love) headed towards Ramstein AFB?
Deleteuhm...dont know the name of the one we went to in Ktown, BUT i DO remember that we had to go past there ( ramstien) to get back to spangdhalem, but i was never the one driving. plus, we didnt always go to Ktown. didnt matter where you went, it seems like the only thing there were more of than US military posts in germany was cathouses.
DeleteYou couldn't miss the Annabella Haus. It had a huge sign with the Sex mit love motto on it right at the driveway and main road. Plus the building itself was HUGE.
DeleteI remember the old man wanting to call his folks and asking the operator to get him "Primrose5-1325". Weird that I still remember that # to this day.
ReplyDelete- WDS
Woman on a party line- mind yer own business - https://youtu.be/A_3_QI5V1LM?si=Xpnx-Lgls6iWG5-V
ReplyDelete