[DallasBiff]

LOL, those old phones were heavy, and if someone would slam the phone the bell would always ring, also one had to rent the phone from Ma Bell.

[Bob434]

We ‘upgraded’ to a phone chord that could reach into the living room (phone was located in kitchen)- We thought it was the greatest invention ever lol

Years later- we got a TV with a remote- talk about heaven!

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Even without a dial, those old phones would dial using the Hangup Hook button. If you did it fast enough hitting it 5 times was the same as dialing a 5.

[shoff]

Never a party line but my number was Sunset 1-5090

[Fresh Wind]

Back in the early days, they hired teenage boys to be operators. Problem was they caused too much trouble, so they switched to women, and all was well.

[tnlibertarian]

My home number growing up had two 0s, two 9s, and an 8. Calling home from a friend’s house and messing up the last number and having to start over was horrible.

[bigbob]

Strowger

[HardyCanuck]

Back in the 70’s it was a real experience using a rotary phone to be the ‘10th caller’ to a radio program in order to win a prize. Especially, when there were a lot of 8’s, 9’s or 0’s in the phone number.

[Albion Wilde]

Here’s a film from the 50’s explaining how Bell System introduced the new phones:

The Dial Comes To Town
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p45T7U5oi9Q

[ByteMercenary]

Way back in the early 80s when push-button phones were established as the technology to use, while driving on a trip home I heard a radio show that was holding a contest regarding the use of rotary-dial verbiage and how it was being applied to the new phones. Of the many terms discussed the one that had most interest was ‘dial the phone’. After all how does one ‘dial’ a push-button phone?

So the DJ held an impromptu contest the winner of which would be the best explanation of ‘dial the phone’. The run away winner postulated that ‘dial’ had transitioned from a verb to an acronym to wit:

D)igitally (as in fingers)
I)nitiated
A)nologue
L)ink

I never forgot that.

[musicman]

" What Are Rotary Dial Phones
and How Do They Work?...



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[Zack Attack]

Back in the day we could call anyone in town with just the last 4 digits.

And you could unscrew the lower part of the handset and remove the speaker piece, screw it back as a practical joke so caller could never hear anyone answer.

[Governor Dinwiddie]

There's some kind of woodpecker on my property which sounds exactly like an old rotary phone:

click click click click click click click click.

Same cadence, same beat.

[Gaffer]

Interestingly, they made the ‘dial’ by a series of “make/breaks” duration 60/40 on the line voltage present, IIRC. You could actually dial number without the dial. Just toggle the handset holder switch in the same sequence. You had to have rhythm, though.

[ducttape45]

Daughter-in-law from Japan asked me what the device below my TV was. I said, “you’ve never seen a VCR?” She says, “what’s that?”

[rickomatic]

When we were in junior high we discovered that you could “tap” out numbers by repeatedly hitting the hangup button. That imitated the clicking made by the dial rotating. It was a neat discovery for jr high schoolers, but could take a minute or so to “dial” someone that way. LOL

[Organic Panic]

My friend’s dad worked his whole life for Ma Bell. When they upgraded to microprocessors he brought back crates of aluminum memory cards and we used them for target practice.

[conservativesister]

AND if you still have a landline and the power goes out, one of these things will still work, calling out & incoming ringer to let you know you have a call, the phone lines have electric.
We keep ours in the cupboard and plug it in when needed.

[Bullish]

Millineals can’t dial an analog phone and they usually can’t drive a stick shift either.

[T. Rustin Noone]

We moved from New jersey to Cape Cod when I was 3 years old.

The only phone in the house was a black bakelite model with no dial.
To operate it, you just picked it up, put it to your ear, and
a woman named Helen would ask you who you wanted to be connected
to. Our number was Chatham-499. A few years later the phone company
delivered a black phone with a dial, but the dial was not functional
for at least two years. Then one day, my three brothers and sisters
and I were instructed on how to use the dial. Then we were
told that we were not allowed to use the phone. Eventually, our
number became 945-0499. Calling the next town was ok. Two towns
west and it was a long distance call, even though you could drive there in
15 minutes.

Maybe I have lived just long enough.

[fr_freak]

LOL, those old phones were heavy, and if someone would slam the phone the bell would always ring

And the bell had two settings - loud and soft, determined by a little slide switch on the side of the base. The soft setting would still ring loud enough to make you jump, especially at night, but the loud setting would damn near shatter glass.