How far back do you remember re: telephone lines/numbers?

[Bertha Venation]

Poll question: How far back do you remember re: telephone lines/numbers?

Phone calling has changed. Choose the earliest thing you remember.

I remember:

[Tikki]

1. I remember party lines...click, click....

but, some in our area had private lines if they paid a little extra..
And I remember our word call out was 'Whitehall'...WH5-5555..like that.

Tikki

[fizzgig]

2. i remember when n. colorado had the same area code as denver

but split back in 1995. my dad was going through some stuff about six or seven years ago and found some old business cards that had the 303 area code on it (we're 970 now) and he said he couldn't believe how stupid he was to put the wrong area code on those cards. i had to laugh before i reminded him that it did used to be our area code.

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. I remember when our phone number was just 3.

Kept getting misdialed calls from some older idiot who couldn't see well, trying to dial 8.

Annoying as hell.

"What number are you trying to dial?"

"8."

"Well, this is 3."

[Auggie]

4. Our name was Clifford 6, or CL6. Please post others (they were great)...

[LNM]

9. Ours was Glendale

GL9 - I have no idea where Glendale came from.

[Auggie]

11. Well, it's a city in California

[csziggy]

5. I remember four of these!

Party lines - I had one with my first phone line while in college. Name/number combo - was still on my parents phone when I was in high school though our town had switched over to the all numbers by the time I was six. Area codes covering large regions - 813 was for all of Central Florida, there was another area code for South Florida and a third for North Florida.

As for dialing '1' - it's changed around so much I can't keep track! I can remember when we had to dial '1 + area code' for everything not in our immediate town. Then we didn't have to dial '1' for anything in our area code. Now I never have a clue; some parts of the area code we don't have to dial it, others (maybe those using a different phone company) we have to dial '1 + area code'. So I never know what to dial for the different towns until I try the number.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. phones? passing fad

give me telegraphs anyday

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. I remember hand written letters delivered by fleet footed messengers

or carrier pigeons.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. HArrison 4-...

But my aunt and uncle, right next door, were HArrison 2. :shrug:

The north part of town was HIckory 9. South part was GLenview 5. Monterey was FRontier 2 and FRontier 3.

When we called my other aunt in Arkansas, we waited until after 7 p.m. for the lower rate. Then we had to call the operator to make a station-to-station call (as opposed to person-to-person, which was more expensive, but if the person you were calling wasn't there, there was no charge) to EM 7-...

And everybody gathered around the phone. :)









Get off of my lawn.

[supernova]

10. Grandma had a party line

with about 4 other older ladies in our neck of the woods.

They could keep each other company and talk about their aches and pains day by day without dialing. Just pick up the phone, always someone to talk to.

And they were all very gracious about taking turns to make private calls.

Good system. :thumbsup:

[applegrove]

12. I remember the phone number of my best friend in grade one.

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

13. Childhood phone no. was TUxedo8-XXXX

and yes, i remember the last four numbers, too. :P The words made it easier to remember when I was a mere sprout.

I also remember postal codes before there were national ZIP codes.

I am getting old :(

[1gobluedem]

14. My grandparents' number was STORY 2278

I thought that was so cool and was bummed that our number was just boring numbers.

We didn't have a party line but we had friends who did. We listened in all the time.

[jobycom]

15. I once saw a phone that had a cord attaching it to a wall.

:wow:

[Glorfindel]

16. I remember the operator saying, "Number, please"

when you picked up the telephone. Our home number was 26. My aunt's number was 56R3, meaning her telephone was on a party line and three rings meant she should answer the phone. All the other things you mention came quite a bit later. Yes, I am older than dirt.

[NoPasaran]

17. I remember us having a party line when I was a kid

I remember living on a military base overseas where we had four-digit phone numbers.

I remember once when we moved we couldn't get a phone for several months because there were no numbers available!

I remember when I got my first apartment how odd it seemed to have to go to a store and BUY a phone (for you youngin's out there, Ma Bell used to own all the residential phones in the land.)

[NV Whino]

20. When I got ready to move my mother north

she said, "Now be sure and take that telephone. I bought that." She was 89 at the time.

[Silver Swan]

18. When I was young

We had a party line with nine parties.

Our telephone number was four digits.

To make a long distance call, you had to go through the operator.

But we were a lot more modern that the next town over--they had to go through the operator for even local calls.

[latebloomer]

19. Wow, we got a lot of geezers here!

My childhood phone number was Webster 3-2872.

I think that's the only one of my old phone numbers I can remember, other than my current one of 15 years.

And, yes, I remember hearing about party lines, though we didn't have one. I was a little kid and I was jealous because it sounded like fun to eavesdrop on other people's conversations.

[krispos42]

21. I remember Connecticut used to be all "203"

And you didn't have to dial "1" or the area code to call local calling area, but that was only a couple of towns in any direction.


I also remember my parent's phone number in the house I lived at from 3-14 years old... :-)

[Arugula Latte]

22. When we first moved to California, we had the 415 area code

even though we lived out in the 'burbs. Then it split and we had 510. Then that one was kept for Oakland and the East Bay 'burbs were assigned 925. I think I'd moved away by then. But, 415 is now the area code with cache, because San Francisco kept it.

[bluedigger]

23. Hand cranks!

My great-grandfather lived in Bryant Pond, Maine, home of the last "hand crank magneto" company. They finally sold out in the 80's. I remember the phone ringing and him saying "That's not us" because it was the wrong sequence of rings. You could pick up the phone, crank once to get the operator, ask "Where's John Smith?" and the operator would respond, "He's over at Howard's, Tom, I'll put you right through.":rofl: More info on the Bryant Pond Phone Company here: http://www.privateline.com/mt_telephonehistory/iv_the_telephone_evolves/07_part_g/