Telephones... then and now

[ultrarunner]

I don't have a head for remembering things like passwords... but I can remember phone numbers from the house I lived in until I was 9.. and my grandmothers number too...

We were told to never go anywhere without a dime for an emergency call home.

It's been 4 years since the last payphone was removed from the hospital lobby...

Around the neighborhood I can point to all the places that had payphones... just about every filling station had a payphone.

 

[MossRoad]

I don't have a head for remembering things like passwords... but I can remember phone numbers from the house I lived in until I was 9.. and my grandmothers number too...

We were told to never go anywhere without a dime for an emergency call home.

It's been 4 years since the last payphone was removed from the hospital lobby...

Around the neighborhood I can point to all the places that had payphones... just about every filling station had a payphone.

I don't remember where we were last week, but my wife and I saw two payphones in a building somewhere and our eyes popped. Haven't seen them for years.

 

[k0ua]

I remember without fondness when working for a phone company of searching for a payphone to call in after getting paged. Yes there were a lot of them but you still had to use them in the rain, the snow and cold. Some where drive up booths you could sit in your car but the rain still blew in sometimes thru the cracked window. I don't miss those days at all. I like my smartphone that does more things than a Star Trek tricorder.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Our first phone was an old hand-crank Kellogg wall phone. We were on a party line, and folks were always listening in on your calls. Every time someone took the receiver down, the voice got dimmer. On long distance, you could barely hear sometimes...and when it rained...the phone lines were tacked to trees in some places...you couldn't even ring Central. I still remember our phone #...55F23. That meant it was two longs on line F23. They later added a feature that cut you off after three minutes. What a bummer...you had to keep calling back.

 

[newbury]

Quote Originally Posted by newbury View Post
And now the Telco's are actively getting rid of copper and going to fiber, partially so they can charge more.

We are still putting copper in the ground and we cant charge any more for fiber service than we do for copper


Last year the copper line got so bad with static they replaced it with fiber. The installer told me it was against company policy to fix copper.

That's hilarious, we fix copper daily. It's quite expensive to build out fiber facilities.

And of course fiber requires power, so when the power goes out so does the phone

Our fiber ONT's have battery backup for this

Love me some fiber

Don't know who put in the red in kcf's quote of my post, but I underlined the comments.
I'm glad the POSTER found it funny, but they refuse to patch copper here. Perhaps some people should realize that their immediate environment does not reflect the world.

And as far as battery backup the ONLY APPROVED SOLUTION is a 12 D cell (user provided) unit that only lasts a day or less and you have to manually turn it on.
RANT here.

 

[Bird]

I remember without fondness when working for a phone company of searching for a payphone to call in after getting paged. Yes there were a lot of them but you still had to use them in the rain, the snow and cold. Some where drive up booths you could sit in your car but the rain still blew in sometimes thru the cracked window. I don't miss those days at all. I like my smartphone that does more things than a Star Trek tricorder.

Yep, I can understand that. When I was a young officer and had to call in a report or got a radio message to call the station, I had to either find a pay phone or go to a fire station to use their phone. So we all carried a dime in our pocket at all times; put the dime in the pay phone, dial the operator, and the dime would come back, then tell her I'm an officer calling the police department, give her the number I needed and she'd put the call through.

But then after I retired from the police department, I worked a couple of years doing gas leakage surveys. When I found a grade one leak, I had to go find a phone to call the gas company to send the repairmen.

 

[k0ua]

Yep, I can understand that. When I was a young officer and had to call in a report or got a radio message to call the station, I had to either find a pay phone or go to a fire station to use their phone. So we all carried a dime in our pocket at all times; put the dime in the pay phone, dial the operator, and the dime would come back, then tell her I'm an officer calling the police department, give her the number I needed and she'd put the call through.

But then after I retired from the police department, I worked a couple of years doing gas leakage surveys. When I found a grade one leak, I had to go find a phone to call the gas company to send the repairmen.

yeah it is a bunch handier to whip out a little phone from your pocket and call in. Not to mention the time and fuel saved hunting for the stinking pay phones.. I don't miss those days at all.

 

[ultrarunner]

Growing up the city police had call boxes strategically placed around the city and I remember seeing officers use them... even with radios.

The OPD had had coverage issues with radios for a long time...

 

[smstonypoint]

I like my smartphone that does more things than a Star Trek tricorder.

A 1991 Radio Shack ad from Mark Perry at 503 Service Temporarily Unavailable.

Steve

 

[bigtiller]

I don't have a head for remembering things like passwords... but I can remember phone numbers from the house I lived in until I was 9.. and my grandmothers number too...

We were told to never go anywhere without a dime for an emergency call home.

It's been 4 years since the last payphone was removed from the hospital lobby...

Around the neighborhood I can point to all the places that had payphones... just about every filling station had a payphone.

My childhood phone number was 349.
The town lawyers office was 74.
I've been told the mayor had number 1.
I just found out this weekend my wife's aunt didn't get a number but instead had a series of buzzing sounds that identified her.

 

[ultrarunner]

Mom's address book still has her oldest friend's phone numbers listed with the exchange... like KEllog2.

My sister in law asked for a phone number once and mom left a message saying it is KE2-1165

Sister in law had to call back to decipher...

 

[MossRoad]

Watch this story...
Workers find wallet lost for 71 years | Local News - KCCI Home
They found an old wallet in a theater. It had some contact info in it. In case of emergency contact so-and-so. Phone number 8. Just 8. :laughing:

Anyhow great story.

 

[check]

I remember as a kid that our phone mumber started with "CH5". And remember that old song with the words "Pennsylvania six five thousand"?

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

I think AMPS came on line in about 1982 or so.

1983, in Chicago. The first trial system. It went so well that Ameritech received permission from the FCC to go commercial that fall, ahead of schedule. Dallas went live the next spring (1984), and Los Angeles was the next market on air, in June, just in time for the summer Olympics there. I don't recall where it went after that.

The breakup of Ma Bell happened that year, too, with the result that those 666 channels got split up, with 333 being licensed to a non-Bell company in each market, and 333 licensed to a Bell company in that market.

I remember watching "Cannon" when I was a kid and he'd pick up the phone and call the "mobile operator" to help him place the call...

I got to watch the filming of a scene for that when I was a high school kid. Got to meet the Big Guy, too, William Conrad. He was very nice to a star-struck high school kid. A real gentleman.

 

[jack707]

When I bought my 1922 home from the original owner it was basically all 1922... high leg stove, kitchen and bath all untouched... and it had a real working telephone that you hold with your your left hand to speak and the receiver with your right... just like Mayberry... still have it tucked away somewhere.

The experience with the kids got me thinking just how fast things change...

Dad has been gone almost 17 years now... if he were to see their home today nothing has changed... rotary phone, Zenith Console TV same applicances... to the kids it must look like a museum.

The 12 year old has helped so many with Apple 6S issues... he knows that phone, apps, etc inside out...

At 12 I was only allowed to use the phone for emergencies and a few seconds when long distance...

The thought of a 12 year old walking around with a $600 phone and a $60 service plan boggles the mind...

Parents today spoil there kids today!!!

 

[k0ua]

Watch this story...
Workers find wallet lost for 71 years | Local News - KCCI Home
They found an old wallet in a theater. It had some contact info in it. In case of emergency contact so-and-so. Phone number 8. Just 8. :laughing:

Anyhow great story.

Wow! That is a great story! Imagine the joy that old man had to see that wallet again from when he was a child.. Great human interest story.

 

[tcreeley]

When we moved to our house in the Berkshires of western Mass when I was a kid.- the phone was a party line without a dial. You just picked up the phone and waited for the operator to ask, "What number please?" Our tel number was 1651J. Sometimes you just waited for the line to be clear to make a call. Your neighbors down the road were on. Everyone knew everybody.

I used to like the heavy desk rotary phones. The pushbutton replacements didn't feel trustworthy. Then you started hearing tones as you punched in the number.

I hate smart phones today. My finger tips are too clumsy to text, and just navigating them is a pain.

We use a cordless landline in the house.

Computers- I enjoy those!

 

[PILOON]

Our first phone was 305 R3-1, wall mounted box with a hand crank, later updated by a candle stick.
My 1st mobile was in the trunk with a handset on the tunnel and it was simplex (only one voice at a time)
Then a real portable, the Motorola 'brick', like 5 lbs!

Now, in more modern times, our land line is still on batteries and cell phone is very spotty and only works up the top of the driveway.
During a power outage bell has to send a truck with a generator to top up the batteries otherwise we are totally isolated.*

I recall every phone bill had all my neighbors tolls on my bill as he self installed a phone crossing 'tip & ring' lines on our 2 party line.

Oh and over the years I have had my share of battles with Ma Bell, and generally won! (sometimes had to shout however)
Once after a storm that downed a dozen poles they left lines on the ground instructing me not to damage them but since I was plowing the snow as a contractor I guaranteed them they would be accidentally damaged.
Another time they wanted to charge us for line installation from the last client but I just happened to have the surveyors map with all the distances between poles and knew who the last client was. (policy was X ft from last client and we made sure that we had enough client/footage to get free installs)
Then came 5 free jacks but they claimed that policy was no longer in effect but I had recorded the date of my application.
On the positive side Bell did donate a quantity of discarded poles for our community shelter, 25 years ago and it still stands today.

* and fiber optic is 1/2 mile away but no hi-speed internet and no TV so no discount packages.

 

[3930dave]

Phones are designed to be around for a couple of years at best today, so are not over-built the way the old rotary tanks described in this thread were.

I grew up with a hard-wired black rotary NorTel phone on the wall in the kitchen. Full Metal dial ring, handset weighed something like 5 lb. If you weren't paying attention setting the handset back on the hookswitch, and missed, you sure as **** got your feet out of the way in a hurry - the cord was long enough to hit the floor and you risked serious damage to your feet !

They had to get rid of those phones - in the old houses those handsets wouldn't punch through 3/4" of hardwood floor, but today, particle board wouldn't stand up. Never had to replace the handset cord on that old black Rotary Nortel. It just worked.

Once the modular replacement Nortel wall phone was installed by Bell, they only seemed to last a few years or so before the TT keypad started acting up. So, even back then, we were already past the Cold War era "Communication Hardware must Work at All Times" thinking.

In some respects, I think we have passed Peak Voice.

A lot of people prefer to text today, and with many cell phones the audio quality is pretty bad. Not 1940's remote rural phone line bad, but definitely not the audio line clarity I grew up with in the 60's. Most cell phones today are optimized for digital data throughput, not analog audio.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

And as far as battery backup the ONLY APPROVED SOLUTION is a 12 D cell (user provided) unit that only lasts a day or less and you have to manually turn it on.
RANT here.

That is one thing that will get me ranting too..... new tech that is less reliable than what it replaces. Not easy to replace CO battery banks in most houses.

Lately, I've had 2 examples of garbled texts between my wife and I. What I received appeared to me a mashup starting with her text, part of somebody else's text dropped in the middle, and ending with her original text. Can't imagine that security authorities are bored enough to be paying attention to our personal texts, so it appears to be flaky tech.

Granted, most people didn't carry around portable teletype terminals in the olde days.

As the hardware tech has "improved", social communication and psychology has changed. Better or worse ? Depends who you ask.

Rgds, D.