I have a crank telephone.
OURS was mounted on the kitchen wall-— there was a crank to ‘call the number’.
Our “number’ was 2 longs & a short. 20 party line.
Do you text with that?
You cranked it a certain way to get one of the phones on your party line, or another way to get the Operator who would connect you with another number that you spoke to her on one of the other party lines.
To place a long distance call, you had to go down to the Operator's office and have her connect to the Central Operator, who would set up the call according to the routines for whatever kind of phone system or receiver was on the other end.
People of either party line could pick up their phone and listen, which those of common courtesy didn;t, but you watched what you said anyway, because the true addictive gossipers would pick up onit anyway, without feeling any shamefor their inconsiderate manners.
Sometime in those days I memorized the radio tune :
"When The Lightnin' Struck The Coon Creek Pary Line" (click here)
Lyrics:
> 'Twas a sultry summer'sday,After the war ended, the phone company built a new entryless building and install an automatic dialing system with a dial handphone for every number in the little village and its farms about.
We'd just finihed makin' hay.
I was drivin' into town for binder twine'When the wind began to roar
and the rain began to pour,
and the lightnin' struck the Coon Crick party line!Hetty said Aunt Lizzie swore
When it knocked her to the floor. She was sure it knocked her ribs loose from her spine;
But it seems that Old Aunt Liz
Lost her gall'pin rheumatiz
When the lightnin' struck the Coon Crick party line.Then the pole got splitten?? through
And the line was snapped in two
Andit fell among the wild cucumber vine.
It was sure an awful thing,
Not a single phone could ring
When the lightnin' struck the Coon Crick party line.