Anyone remember the "Party Line" on phones ? (Marshall: homes, buy)

[Lgee3ree]

Back around 79-81 in the NW part of S.A. Anyone with a phone number that started with 680, 681, 684, & 688 could dial their own number, get a busy signal & you could converse with others who did the same thing.....It was pretty safe back then & we'd all meet at the Skate Ranch in Leon Valley or Ingram Park Mall.....It was mostly kids from Marshall, Holmes & the Geronimo creek area ....

[BabyBoomer46]

I certainly remember the old party lines. A private phone line was more expensive than having a party line. With a party line you'd share your phone line with a nearby neighbor or even two neighbors. It was so inconvenient when one of the neighbors would stay on the phone for an hour at a time and you needed to use the line. My father would get on the phone and ask them to cut their conversation a bit shorter since it was a shared line and he needed to make an important call. Gezzz! Those were the days. I lived in Leon Valley during from around 1958 until 1965 when I joined the USAF.
We lived about a mile past the TEXAS STAR IN on the right side of the road.
That's going towards Bandara. There were the KENS radio towers right next to our house. Now there's a WAL-MART there I believe. There were dairy farms all around us. Most were owned by the STUBENS'S family. They were of German decent. One was owned by a Mr and Mrs Brown. Mrs Brown was a teacher at Leon Valley Elementary school for years. Her son's name was Barry and he was killed in an auto accident. If you brought a gallon jug to their dairy you could get milk with cream 3 inches thick on the top of the jug for 50 cents. WOW! Those were THE PARTY LINE DAYS for sure.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by Lgee3ree

Back around 79-81 in the NW part of S.A. Anyone with a phone number that started with 680, 681, 684, & 688 could dial their own number, get a busy signal & you could converse with others who did the same thing.....It was pretty safe back then & we'd all meet at the Skate Ranch in Leon Valley or Ingram Park Mall.....It was mostly kids from Marshall, Holmes & the Geronimo creek area ....

I remember this on the NE side of town in the early 70's!! We had just enough time to say one word between beeps!

"What...beep...school...beep...do...beep...you...b eep...go...beep...to?"or "What...beep...is...beep...your....beep...favorite (said very fast)...band?" Pre-historic MySpace.com!

[Trivet The Fool]

Off-topic, but the phone prefixes listed reminded me of the days when you could look in the phone book and tell what area of town someone lived in by the first three numbers of the phone number, or their 'exchange'.

[amberngriff]

Originally Posted by Lgee3ree

Back around 79-81 in the NW part of S.A. Anyone with a phone number that started with 680, 681, 684, & 688 could dial their own number, get a busy signal & you could converse with others who did the same thing.....It was pretty safe back then & we'd all meet at the Skate Ranch in Leon Valley or Ingram Park Mall.....It was mostly kids from Marshall, Holmes & the Geronimo creek area ....

Hey, it isn't a S.A. thing! I grew up at Ball/Walnut in Anaheim .. It's right next to Ball JHS (or whatever it is now - on google I FLIPPED last night looking at all the changes.. it was strawberry fields and orange groves when I grew up there in the 60's and 70's. I met Rich in Costa Mesa (851-8176), Kev in Anaheim (774-5187), (good phone # memory but not for Algebra!) and guys from Orange, Anaheim Hills, Fountain Valley, Newport, etc...

Then, do you remember the Time Lady? 853-1212 JUST a few yrs ago I called and it finally, after many decades, was terminated. We could yell phone numbers through that as well. It was called a 'party line,' but not in the sense of party lines you have in the Midwest.. I lived in Ok at one time and we had 4 different homes using the same line - you had to listen for 'YOUR RING' before you answered.

The busy signal was so fun and exhausting!! SCREAMING your phone number and then you called them or visa versa. I met what I call 'my brother' that way and my very first b/f at 13 - Kevin Johnson. I am still in touch w/my bro, but can't find Kev - saw him just before my DS was born in 99.

These party lines were my LIFE! I was very absorbed into that 'life' b/c I was shy and introverted and we moved mid semester and I didn't know anyone. My 'bro' eventually worked with PacBell and I learned A LOT of things that still work with phones!~

I lived for them, sneaking on the phone late at night.. mom eventually put a phone lock on, but, Kev, an early long haired hippie looking electronics geek found a way around that. I met guys late at night, I became involved with the high emotion 'life' online. One good friend we called Sammy the Seal (Joanne Winfield) I am still looking for! We had some serious parties out at her apt in Tustin/Santa Ana.

An older blind man, used to run his own matchmaking online service - Kurt! He would 'patch' two people together and listen.. if he didn't like you, or you were too boring, he'd hang up on you!

I'm pushing 49 and what I did at 13-17 is still SO Fresh in my mind! IN FACT, I met my first serious b/f on a party line and we dated for 5 yrs... His name is Kempton, and, we both married different people.

What memories!

amberngriffinco
Denverite Now.

[TexasRedneck]

Ah....Texas Star Inn....Old Man Klein - he was so tight he wouldn't buy an ice maker, so he'd come to my folks' liquor store and buy all the ice they had, then complain about the price. Dad finally told him one day that every time he complained, the price'd go up a nickle a bag for 2 weeks. Took him a couple of times to finally believe he was serious!<G>
The teacher/dairyman - I think you're thinking of Mr. & Mrs. Burns. She's still alive (or was as of last year) - he passed on some time back. I remember the gallon jugs of fresh milk - and having to be careful that the inspector wasn't around while we got it! Back then, you had the Steubings, Brauns, Browns, Burns, Malstberger, Brandts and a coupla others that I can't recall off hand running dairy operations - more'n once they'd call and roust Dad or I up to run and open the hardware store for something they needed to fix a milker early in the morning, or weld something up for 'em.

[TXtrkgrl]

Originally Posted by amberngriff

Then, do you remember the Time Lady? 853-1212 JUST a few yrs ago I called and it finally, after many decades, was terminated.

I had forgotten about the Frost bank time number. I just called it and it still works! 226-3232. Frost bank time 7:20, downtown temperature 74. lol

[940]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

The teacher/dairyman - I think you're thinking of Mr. & Mrs. Burns. She's still alive (or was as of last year) - he passed on some time back. I remember the gallon jugs of fresh milk - and having to be careful that the inspector wasn't around while we got it! Back then, you had the Steubings, Brauns, Browns, Burns, Malstberger, Brandts and a coupla others that I can't recall off hand running dairy operations - more'n once they'd call and roust Dad or I up to run and open the hardware store for something they needed to fix a milker early in the morning, or weld something up for 'em.

Wow...I had Mrs Burns for 3rd grade at Leon Valley Elem. back in the early 70s. I remember her telling the class that she also had a dairy and in fact, she brought in milk sometimes to show us. Glad to hear she's still alive!

[TexasRedneck]

I had her a *few* years earlier...<cough - 60's - cough>. Mrs. Sawyer was the speech therapist there at the time - she's still alive as well! She's in her 90's now, and still sharp as a tack!

[HillCountryHotRodMan]

I liked the party line, too .... but then somebody kept asking me what I was wearing....