We would have missed out on a lot of fun messing with her.She mustn't have known you could unscrew the mouthpiece and take the microphone element out, so there would be no background noise to give her away.
Don't ask how I came to know this little party line secret.
I still use a rotary phone but it's hard to press 1 for English!Years ago rotary phones worked by simple switch contacts, so dialing a 3 contacts open & close 3 times. A business close to home had an outdoor phone with no dial. As a kid I could call friends by tapping it 8-5-1...etc.
Most places later even today have an outdoor service box with a test jumper inside where you can plug in a phone.