Posted on 07/07/2024 4:44:37 PM PDT by DallasBiff
1950s
The design of the telephone didn’t change much from the ’40s to the ’50s, but the mechanics of it sure did. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the numbers and letters are placed around the rotary so that people could view them more easily when dialing, and it also had an adjustable volume control. This style phone is the Western Electric model 500 Rotary. It was designed by Henry Dreyfus and was used as the Bell System’s mainstay telephone from the 1950s through the 1980s.
(Excerpt) Read more at rd.com ...
..with.
Western Electric made stuff that would survive a nuclear war.
The good old days.
I was probably between 2 and 3 we had that phone, they were heavy. I vividly remember standing next to the cabinet it was on. Pulled on the wire and it came down and hit me on the head. Guess that explains a lot.
I was a kid in Virginia in the early 60s, our neighborhood was mostly party line. At the time I didn’t really understand what was going on since I was a kid but there was a bunch of infidelity going on with wives whose husbands were overseas in the military. Thanks to the party line it created quite a stir.
In one instance, I was told that Stanley could come over to my house and play anytime. But I was not allowed to play at Stanley’s house. Later, when I was older it was explained to me that Stanley’s mother was bringing in men for fun and games while his dad was stationed overseas. And apparently she was not the only “lonely” wife in the neighborhood.
What was even funnier, was that part of the Scandal was due to the fact that officers wives were boinking enlisted men. Even more exciting one of the white officers wives was doing the dirty with an enlisted black man. This was 1962 after all.
I have an avocado green oster blender. I bought it at a rummage sale in the 70s. That blender puts all the new ones to shame, it’s a powerhouse. The “nijnas” don’t compare to this. It as a glass mixer. The only thing I’ve replaced are the gaskets.
What ehat phones......
My family had party-line dial phone when I was a kid (60s). I still have a landline. I have a cellphone I rarely use.
And 30 cents a minute for “long distance.”
Is that designed to make or receive crank calls?
I do. Abt 1958-59 when we first got it. Hated it. Someone was always on
and wouldn’t get off even if you ask the too.
Entertaining gossip tho.
I miss all of that stuff.
We have a toaster given as a wedding present in 1956.
Still works but I don’t use it. I’ve gone through 3 in the last 3 years.
We had a wall phone with a party line at one time. If you picked up the receiver while the other party was on the phone, you could listen to their conversation. We were taught to hang up right away of course. Good training.
I had one of those in my garage in the 2000’s. It came in handy, too, when our power was out. The landline phone in the house required a separate power connector, but the garage phone just relied on the current through the telephone system and still worked.
“Is that designed to make or receive crank calls?”
It should be used to call Mark Levin.
1990’s. I remember some large handsets with antennas, a fax machine with push buttons and a handset, and cell phones.
And one with a wiggly cord, that was semi-transparent so you could see the guts — it had an answering machine built in. I’ve never used a rotary dial phone, but have seen them in antique shops.
Coffee makers are the worst!
LOL
You gave me a great idea. Put a recording of Mark on my answering machine.
“Get off the phone you big dope!”
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