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What Phones Looked Like the Decade You Were Born
Reader's Digest ^ | 11/14/22 | Morgan Cutalo

Posted on 09/03/2023 11:43:00 AM PDT by DallasBiff

Some elementary school kids don’t even know what a landline is. Take a trip down memory lane and remember the type of phone you used to use.


(Excerpt) Read more at rd.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History
KEYWORDS: phones
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To: DallasBiff

My dad knows to always call me on my landline. My cell is always upstairs on the charger. Its primary function is to call for help if I’m out and the car breaks down.


101 posted on 09/03/2023 2:12:46 PM PDT by Windcatcher (Time to fly the black flag -- one of no quarter for Marxists.)
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To: Jim W N

Yep, that kind.


102 posted on 09/03/2023 2:24:24 PM PDT by tomkat
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To: Rusty0604

As a teen in the 90’s, living with my aunt and uncle they had a rotary phone and a touch tone phone. I remember using the rotary one more.


103 posted on 09/03/2023 2:28:50 PM PDT by Stayingawayfromthedarkside (D.C. (District of Corruption))
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To: mass55th

My grandma was a phone operator back in the 50’s and 60’s, maybe 70’s not sure. Maybe even in the 40’s. I just know that she was one.


104 posted on 09/03/2023 2:38:32 PM PDT by Stayingawayfromthedarkside (D.C. (District of Corruption))
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To: DallasBiff

The letter prefixes identified the exchange the phone was on.Phones in the area of the Klondike exchange would have been identified by the “KL” preceding the number As a kid ours was Lattimer or LT.


105 posted on 09/03/2023 2:52:48 PM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
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To: null and void

‘Ol Sandy Widosh is more than likely either a great grandmother or already passed on.

Along with our lovely rotary dial phones, party lines, and the innocence of unlocked doors.


106 posted on 09/03/2023 2:53:59 PM PDT by Chainmail (How do I feel about ignorance and apathy? I don't know and I don't care.)
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To: DallasBiff

I’m so old, they communicated with carrier pigeons.

That’s what my kids told me.


107 posted on 09/03/2023 2:54:31 PM PDT by Veto! (FJB Sucks Rocks)
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To: dfwgator
That's hilarious! I can't believe the phone company had a sense of humor and wild do that. Good for them.

My uncle and family lived in Ketchum from 1969 until about 2000 when they moved back to Twin Falls. I visited them many times and never knew Adam West lived in the Wood River Valley, I never saw those pages in the phone book. We were just in Ketchum three months ago.

Mr. West passed seven years ago. He had moved to the Wood River Valley in 1985.

Valley resident Adam West dies
Mountain Express staff, June 12, 2017

Here's a moving story about Mr. West's life. He sounds like a great guy with a good sense of humor -- and it shows in those phone book listings!

Looking Back On The Life Of Batman Actor And Idaho Resident Adam West

108 posted on 09/03/2023 3:09:01 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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To: dfwgator

I don’t know what plastic they made those receivers out of, but it was absolutely indestructible!


109 posted on 09/03/2023 3:10:01 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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To: Psalm 73

Same here. My house had a 2-piece rotary for the first few years of my existence. Had party lines into my teens. First cellphone was a 10# bag. I still remember getting a 486dx computer and thinking I had hit the lottery - now, I have exponentially (literally) more computing power in my have right now than the entire FedGov had in my high school days. Man, where did all this technology come from?


110 posted on 09/03/2023 3:10:26 PM PDT by Spacetrucker (George Washington didn't use his freedom of speech to defeat the British - HE SHOT THEM .. WITH GUNS)
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To: telescope115

Our fraternity house (1969-1973) was wired for landline phones in every room. There were a couple of house phones, but you could get a private line in your room if you paid to have the phone company come out, turn on the line, and connect the wiring at the patch panel. I remember changing rooms one year and going to the patch panel to move the wires around. I didn’t have the right tools, so I kludged the wiring. A phone company technician came out later, saw my work, and said “No phone company tech did this wiring!” in a low growl. I thought I was going to jail for tampering with government property. I never fessed up to the crime.


111 posted on 09/03/2023 3:13:38 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (“Occupy your mind with good thoughts or your enemy will fill them with bad ones.” ~ Thomas More)
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To: Chainmail

*sigh*


112 posted on 09/03/2023 3:14:51 PM PDT by null and void (It's 10 o'clock, does the president know where he is?)
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To: Jim W N

BR 549.

Hee Haw. Junior Sample.


113 posted on 09/03/2023 3:15:43 PM PDT by Texas resident (We are living through Barak's fundamental transformation)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom
A phone company technician came out later, saw my work, and said “No phone company tech did this wiring!” in a low growl. I thought I was going to jail for tampering with government property. I never fessed up to the crime.

Don't mess with The Phone Cops!

114 posted on 09/03/2023 3:15:57 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: C210N

Me too. And, when you wired in a capacitor from a tube radio they could not hear a click when you connected the wires and tapped the line.


115 posted on 09/03/2023 3:16:53 PM PDT by anton
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To: Allegra

When I skipped school I would remove the speaker and ear piece from the phone so if the school called my mother would not be able to communicate with them. Worked every time!


116 posted on 09/03/2023 3:17:06 PM PDT by ABN 505 (Right is right if nobody is right, and wrong is wrong if everybody is wrong. ~Archbishop Fulton John)
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To: Psalm 73

Our home phone was 2-1166.

My grandfather would talk on the phone for a few minutes then say he had to get off the phone because “central” was listening.


117 posted on 09/03/2023 3:17:15 PM PDT by Texas resident (We are living through Barak's fundamental transformation)
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To: ABN 505

I gave the school the phone for the convenience store’s pay phone as my home phone. So when I skipped school, they would call the pay phone and get no answer.


118 posted on 09/03/2023 3:18:45 PM PDT by Texas resident (We are living through Barak's fundamental transformation)
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To: DallasBiff

119 posted on 09/03/2023 3:18:50 PM PDT by 1FreeAmerican
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To: 1FreeAmerican

Ha, surprised it took that long.


120 posted on 09/03/2023 3:19:12 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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