Posted on 03/29/2021 11:36:20 AM PDT by OneVike
Now that’s a memory. My grand parents did not have a phone. So we used to go to the local phone company office to make a phone call to visit with relatives. And we could see the operators plugging in the wires to make the calls.
“And it cost an arm and a leg to call long distance”
And long distance wasn’t necessarily long distance, it was a change in carriers. My high school girlfriend lived about 10-15 miles away from me and calling her was long distance. I got my butt chewed on a regularly basis because of the phone bill.
I remember when people traveled far from home, they would place a "collect call" to let their family know they arrived safely—and the family would say, "No" to receiving the call. That way, there was no conversation, but also no long-distance charge. It only worked within the U.S., though.
I remember getting off the ocean liner in Southhampton, England in the summer after senior year and the first thing I thought was, "Hot damm! I don't have to call home to let my folks know I got here safe!"
My 104 year old neighbor had a phone she still rented from AT&T. That was about 10 years ago. I’m sure she has passed away since and AT&T probably sent a bill to her family.
Look what they are selling for on eBay:
You haven't lived until you have a summer job collecting bills for Ma Bell! Wish they had paid commission instead of a salary, though!
"606,please"
"Connecting, tell your grandmother I said hello, Doug"
"I will, Mrs. Holt"
Ring...ring...ring
...yes such call was normal when I was a kid.
Yea, tapping end call when your mad, just doesn't have the same effect.
Well, even with the dropping of mnemonic exchange numbers, area appropriate exchang numbers can result.
As an example , moving back to NYC to the Upper West Side my new exchange was 666-nnnn....can't get more spot on than that....
I had to explain "boardinghouse reach" to my pastor at a church dinner. Then I had to explain "boardinghouse."
That's wonderful that you remember them by name. Did they each work an 8-hour shift, and there was no one during the night? or did they work 12 hours apiece? Could there have been a third person you never knew because you were asleep?
Damn...how old are these people.
I had a woman working for me once who had been an operator for 47 years. Same office. Same job.
Nicest woman in the world. But slow as a sloth in a business based on “efficiency.”
Just don’t talk on it during an electric storm. 😁
Remember that?
One Ringy Dingy . . .
Seconds later, to my shock and dismay, the phone rang. My mom took the call. Uh, oh.
Turns out the operator was amused, and the two of them had a good laugh. Whew!
Party lines. Dots and dashes - or shorts and longs. One full turn of the crank was a long/dash, and a half-turn was a short/dot. Our first phone had the earpiece and mouthpiece on a single, hang-able receiver. You knew everybody’s call signal. And if too many people picked up to listen in, the signal would be so weak the talking parties had to shout at each other.
There were several good-looking/popular high-school girls on our line (two were my sisters), and they’d tie up the line until some old farmer picked up and told them to get to hell to bed!
Calling long-distance was a special process. I recall there being a signal - a community call sign - where everybody on the line would pick up so somebody could ask for half an hour or so to make a long-distance call. That was the way to call for help when fires and accidents were reported, too.
That all changed when the rotary dialed phones came along. My folks had the same phone number from about 1960 to about 2006/2007.
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Great minds....
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