Anyone remember the "Party Line" on phones ?

[crittergal]

Boy does this take me back. I grew up in the Hudson Valley in NYS. We had a party line and one of the neighbors my mother called "the old man" because he acted like a grumpy old man most of the time especially when my mom was on the phone. We knew he was listening in as you could hear him breathing and snorting, or if he wanted to use the phone, he would constantly be picking it up and slamming it down. I still remember my number, Capital 65305 after 50 plus years..oh no did I just say 50 plus??? Ughhhh!

I also remember when I used to spend the summers with my grandmother in Old Forge NY. The phone system had no dials. You picked up the phone and gave the operator the number. I used to think I was so big when my grandmother let me call my great aunt and I would tell the operator "46M please"

Thanks for the memory lane!

[gy2020]

Originally Posted by 940

Red's was the closest thing we had to a store then so we were there quite a bit either getting gas or some junk food. The Laidley's were such nice people...I sometimes rent "Race with the Devil" just to see their old store off Potranco and Talley as it was in the mid 70s!!

I'll DM you with my name...Thanks!

Red Laidley was a cuz of mine. His mother and my grandmother were sisters. My grandmother lived to 100 and his mother lived to 95. Both of the sisters lived in the same house on the west side after they got to 90. They had a caregiver living with them. I remember the stories of "Race with the Devil". I was living in Houston when the film was made. Moved back in 76.

[NaturalizedTexan]

I remember party lines - which were non-private residential lines - but that's something different from what we called "hot lines" in Tampa in the late '60's and early '70's. The so-called "hot lines" were usually time and temperature numbers where busy signals were frequent. Somewhere along the line, someone figured out that you could carry on a conversation with everyone else getting the busy signal. My school friends and I would stay on the line for hours, shouting, "What's your number???" (meaning home phone number) over the busy signal and din of the other callers.

Eventually, technology conquered the glitch which allowed all of the silly teens to swap phone numbers and stories with one another....but lo, some three or four decades hence, the chat room was born! ROTFL.

[elnina]

I remember phones like that
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_8bvWHlpryc0/SF74LKUnSbI/AAAAAAAARg4/dbtZrPowqR8/telefon.jpg (broken link)
you could only call the police....

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by elnina

I remember phones like that

you could only call the police....

I think that was IN the jail.....but ask M2 - he's got LOTS of experience w/that sort of thing, I hear!

[NaturalizedTexan]

Originally Posted by elnina

I remember phones like that

you could only call the police....

So, okay, I am NOT going to get into an "older than thou" contest (especially with a Mod, lol)...but I am old enough to remember when people lived in communities where phones didn't NEED to be able to reach the police!

But seriously: my first telephone service was $7.50 per month. That included one private line, all fees and taxes, and rental of a black rotary dial phone! And gosh, look at us now

[elnina]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

I think that was IN the jail.....but ask M2 - he's got LOTS of experience w/that sort of thing, I hear!

Originally Posted by NaturalizedTexan

So, okay, I am NOT going to get into an "older than thou" contest (especially with a Mod, lol)...but I am old enough to remember when people lived in communities where phones didn't NEED to be able to reach the police!

Nope! This is a picture of a phone common in households in communistic Poland! I guess, they figured out that people do not need to chat with each others - the only "party line" was with the police!
Zdjecia i filmy PRL