close-up of a vintage phone The Virginian Hotel Medicine Bow, WY
My maternal grandfather had a hand crank wall phone similar to the one in these photos, but the first phone I remember in the farm house was a black, desk model, rotary dial phone.
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What do you remember about the telephones in your lifetime?
We have the hand crank phone that was in my husband's childhood home. His mom had saved it - which surprised me because she wasn't very sentimental about "things". My husband has worked in the telecommunications industry since 1976 and she gifted it to him many years ago.
I remember our black rotary telephone sat in the ball in a book specially built for it. Bert remembers his aunt and uncle having a crank phone. He just said that as a kid everyone he knew had one, especially if they lived in the country. He even remembers operators. His Grandmother had been an operator. Sue
My grands had one of the wooden ones on the wall you show! Great fun we kids had playing with it! I remember having a party line-picking up to call my gram and not being able to because someone was already talking first! lol
I've got a very old dial type phone I found in Dad's garage when I sold his house. It's black and weighs a ton. I think it must be from the 30's. I loved phones when I was young. The sound of the rotary dial makes me so happy.
I remember rotary phones but the party lines had disappeared by the time I remember. I do remember when we got our first push button phone. It was a tan desk model and I thought we were very posh not having to "dial" anymore. My how things have changed. Now phones are computers and do everything. Blessings, Betsy
I don’t remember the hand cranked phones except for TV portrayals. But I do remember the old black rotary dial phones. And the start of my Grandma's phone number — AXminister 2-xxxx...or so I think! Things sure have changed since we were born!
I grew up in rural Iowa. The first phone that I remember was a wood hand crank with a 6 or 8 family party line. Each family had a specific ring. I think our ring was a "long and a short". My mother would "rubber" or listen to other calls and I hated having to be quiet. Years later, the party line was two or three families with a specific ring. After that, the phone line was private.
What happened to that comment I was writing? I was relating that we didn't get a phone at home, a large black plastic one, till I was about 11 or so. Then I had to find out which school friends also had a phone so I had someone to have phone conversations with. So different to these days when all the youngsters are glued to their cell phones!
What I remember that kids wouldn't get .........our phone number did not have an area code AND it started with two letters ---- TU7-6519 The T U stood for Turner. When we moved it was OS2-7073. The OS was for Osborn.
Why i remember my father had one that he let us play with. Antique that he bought and then he painted it. He had this horrible habit of finding old things and sprucing them all up. My mom hated all the antiques. hahaha.
We had a black crank phone our Number was 12F120 and we had to ring up the operator to place a call. We have an old oak phone hanging on our wall in the kitchen:)
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We have the hand crank phone that was in my husband's childhood home. His mom had saved it - which surprised me because she wasn't very sentimental about "things". My husband has worked in the telecommunications industry since 1976 and she gifted it to him many years ago.
ReplyDeleteNever saw one of these and never used party lines.
ReplyDeleteI remember our black rotary phone that sat on a shelf near our kitchen table. I was so happy when we got rid of the party line!!
ReplyDeleteI remember our black rotary telephone sat in the ball in a book specially built for it. Bert remembers his aunt and uncle having a crank phone. He just said that as a kid everyone he knew had one, especially if they lived in the country. He even remembers operators. His Grandmother had been an operator. Sue
ReplyDeleteMy grands had one of the wooden ones on the wall you show! Great fun we kids had playing with it! I remember having a party line-picking up to call my gram and not being able to because someone was already talking first! lol
ReplyDeleteI've got a very old dial type phone I found in Dad's garage when I sold his house. It's black and weighs a ton. I think it must be from the 30's. I loved phones when I was young. The sound of the rotary dial makes me so happy.
ReplyDeleteI remember rotary phones but the party lines had disappeared by the time I remember. I do remember when we got our first push button phone. It was a tan desk model and I thought we were very posh not having to "dial" anymore. My how things have changed. Now phones are computers and do everything.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Betsy
I don’t remember the hand cranked phones except for TV portrayals. But I do remember the old black rotary dial phones. And the start of my Grandma's phone number — AXminister 2-xxxx...or so I think! Things sure have changed since we were born!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in rural Iowa. The first phone that I remember was a wood hand crank with a 6 or 8 family party line. Each family had a specific ring. I think our ring was a "long and a short". My mother would "rubber" or listen to other calls and I hated having to be quiet. Years later, the party line was two or three families with a specific ring. After that, the phone line was private.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to that comment I was writing? I was relating that we didn't get a phone at home, a large black plastic one, till I was about 11 or so. Then I had to find out which school friends also had a phone so I had someone to have phone conversations with. So different to these days when all the youngsters are glued to their cell phones!
ReplyDeleteWe had a black desk model as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember that kids wouldn't get .........our phone number did not have an area code AND it started with two letters ---- TU7-6519 The T U stood for Turner. When we moved it was OS2-7073. The OS was for Osborn.
Why i remember my father had one that he let us play with. Antique that he bought and then he painted it. He had this horrible habit of finding old things and sprucing them all up. My mom hated all the antiques. hahaha.
ReplyDeleteWe had a black crank phone our Number was 12F120 and we had to ring up the operator to place a call. We have an old oak phone hanging on our wall in the kitchen:)
ReplyDeleteI remember feeling bad for people who had party lines. I also remember only dialing 5 digits!
ReplyDelete