Telephones... then and now

[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.