I lived in a rural county in Michigan in the 1980’s which still had a few party lines going.
If I remember, it was difficult to call someone on the same party line. I think you had to dial the number and then hang up and wait for your phone to ring. We’ve come along way. Now, very few even have a landline. I still do for some reason.
Our first phone in the 60’s was a party line, about 1964 I think. To think that you could survive without phone is unthinkable today.