Posted on 10/17/2025 2:04:36 PM PDT by DallasBiff
I remember being on a party line for a while.
I got an NOS black rotary wall phone to hang in my kitchen, as there was a wall plate already in place (house built in 1977). I paid $25 for it on eBay. I have another rotary phone that I got from my nephew who took it out of a demolition project he was on at the time. He meant to give it to his nephew who was 5 years old at the time, but THAT nephew didn't appreciate getting a "phone" that didn't have a touchscreen.
Both phones have been serviced by an old-school tech and are fully functional, but we don't have service.
“ Good for the parents, if they want to go really retro, they should get a rotary phone, if they make them anymore.”
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Makes me wonder…. can you dial ‘0’ and get an operator now-a-days?
Next thing you know, someone will figure out how to send tones over the phone line so they can hook a computer up to it and download pron (slowly).
I miss our landline. The house we bought two years ago doesn’t even have the “outlets” for plugging in a phone. (I did keep a couple of phones.)
Will they have the stones to actually stop paying for their children’s phones? That’s kind of all it takes, isn’t it?
I didn’t know they were still available for any reasonable price. I’ve not had a landline since 1998.
“I remember being on a party line for a while.”
I still have our old phone. Not even a rotary dial on it. Just a round plate with the number. And the number was (Town name #XX). Everyone had a different ring, ours was one long two shorts...
And yes we had busybodies who listened in on other’s phone calls... Years later after we got modern phones I still kept that phone on our service business office desk. Just about every customer would ask if they could use our phone and they would tie up our one business line. So I would say “sure” and point to that old phone with no dial. They would stare it it for about five minutes and then come back out and say “never mind”. lol :)
I used to have a pair of wooden crank phones that mount on the wall. What possessed me to part with them is still a mystery.
I’m going to get my son a pay telephone with rotary dual that requires him to pay for those phobe calls. I gotta make a buck back on my familial investment somehow!
Now if I can only find an old phone box and put it outside so he has to go out there to make his calls.
“I used to have a pair of wooden crank phones that mount on the wall. What possessed me to part with them is still a mystery.”
Yes, we had one of those in the shop when I was a kid. It was the only phone for 50 miles around. And we let the community use it. But back then folks got on, got their business done as succinct as possible, and got off so someone else could use it or so we did not lose business calls. We would even take messages and hand deliver them to folks 50 miles out. I was delivering some of those at 12 years old. There was mutual courtesy and respect for each other in those days. :)
Someone stole that phone or I would still have it too... :)
I still have a land line.... Going on 40+ years.
How many of us got rid of landlines caused they got to be taxed to death? Added almost 50% to the cost. 911, fees galore
We had a party line for a while when I was a kid. Very annoying. Now that my wife and I are elderly, we’re reluctant to rely on cell phones for emergency services. I honestly don’t know if true land lines exist here in KY, but we opted for Voice-Over IP when we bought our home. It emulates a land line, so it’s definitely an improvement over cellular. (I despise cell phones for a bunch of reasons, but especially if calling 911.) I’m all for limiting kids’ phone use. Land line or VOIP would work for teaching them that phones are for talking to other people, not being corrupted by ChiCom crap!
We never got rid of our landline.
I have our landline with same number since early 1980’s in the house and one in my office since 1996 for my business and able to fax those who still fax.
There are a whole lot of rotary phones on eBay. The touchtone ones should probably work also if you have a live wireline.
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