(I posted this using my antique Etch-A-Sketch)
Posted on 01/24/2009 2:14:17 PM PST by franksolich
I went to a wedding in a big church out in the Sandhills of Nebraska this morning, but before leaving on the long drive, I got all set up in the usual standard customary blue three-piece pin-striped suit, when I suddenly remembered something.
There was a bonfire on Skins's island the other day, where the primitives were talking about cellular telephones, and Playboy Pedro mentioned that some time ago at a wedding party, he had gotten drunk and dunked his cellular telephone into the wedding punch.
Never mind that Playboy Pedro is circa three decades too old for such nonsense; he's a richboy primitive, after all, where gauche is permissible, even laudable.
It occurred to me this morning, while I was getting ready, that within my own lifetime, Americans in general have become rather, uh, rude, in their pervasive use of portable telephones, including at weddings, funerals, concerts, and somesuch.
But that's neither here nor there; being deaf, I don't mess with it.
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativecave.com ...
yes it is interesting, but shouldn’t you be in Ohio working on winter conditioning?
Ping for the DUmmie ALERT! ping list, although it’s not about the primitives on Skins’s island; it was however inspired by the primitives.
Alan King pulls out one of those toy phones, the kind that jingle when you dial a number, and begins dialing. The ringing sound catches the other driver's attention. It struck me as very funny.
BTW, let me know if you want to sell that phone you used. That's a beaut!
It weighs, seemingly, about 20 pounds.
Once a very long time ago, I had seen a photograph of Henry R. Luce, before he met Clare Booth Luce, sitting at his desk at Time magazine, taken about the time Fortune was founded, which would've been circa 1930. I noticed the telephone, and decided I wished to have one like it, although obviously it wouldn't do me any good.
I figured it would be a long, fruitless search, and that all I'd ever find was some replica, priced in the hundreds of bucks.
I lived in Lincoln at the time, and there was a business that refurbished old telephones--Burden's Supply Center--and I decided to check it out one time.
There were lots and lots of old telephones there, available for sale, and there was my model, for five bucks. I dunno if Burden's still does this (they've become rather more famous since then, as Burden's Outdoors Outfitters, or something like that), but at the time, the late 1970s, early 1980s, they sold a lot of refurbished telephones, although for practical use, not as antiquities.
It is a great looking telephone. I myself have an Underwood Standard portable typewriter that was manufactured in 1937 that is identical to William Faulkner’s favorite typewriter. It is in excellent condition. I picked it up at a St. Vincent DePaul’s thrift store in Columbus for $20 in 1987.
I still use it (in fact, I’m posting this on FR with it). I’m personally not fond of antiques, but typewriters and telephones really ring my bell.
The telephone industry always make any improvements in their system backward compatible with existing equipment.
They found out that is better not to obsolete everything periodically like Digital industry does.
Remember the look Bush 43 would give reporters whenever one of their cell phones went off? He should have carried your phone with him to press conferences.
(I posted this using my antique Etch-A-Sketch)
I just love it when my obscure jokes get noticed. No time to talk; I’m busy deleting porn off the Internet.
I hope you're younger than I am. You'll need all the time you can get...
That is a great story. I’m going to look for an old analog phone I can take with me to use when passing idiots talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to driving.
Great idea!
That’s so true. People are so rude these da.....hold on, I have to take this.
You’ve got your old typewriter connected to the Internet????
You caught it. It’s always fun to see how many people catch an absurd statement. I think it is because the world has gone so crazy and people do so many strange things that we just see something absurd and say “that’s just one of those things.”
That’s a Western Electric model 202 desk set, made from 1930 to 1937. They’re relatively common, and there are always some for sale on eBay. You also need what they called a “subset”, which was a box containing the ringer and other components necessary for actual operation.
http://www.telephonearchive.com/phones/we/we202.html
That was a great story. Enjoyed it very much!
PS: to poster who found an Underwood typerwriter real cheap: my folks had one of those, a hand me down from some older relative, and my folks THREW it in the dump! ARG! They probably did this horrible deed when I was at school. It was a beautiful old piece of history. It was in great condition. That was 20 years ago it disappeared. Rotting in the township dump, horrors! Wish I had it.
My brother is getting married on Feb 8. Thats the plan, the day after my birthday. I think its a very interesting that this topic comes from someone who is deaf.
a brilliant idea, BTW
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