Community Chat

[qvcaddition]

When I was a kid, we had 2way party lines.  Also had an operator you could speak with and ask the time or a phone # 

When I was a teen, we finally got a cord extension and I could sit down and talk.  Only allowed one phone call on school nights, after dinner and dishes and homework and chores done.

Later, one of my first jobs was as a teledphone operator for a big drug company where you had a big switchboard to plug calls in. 

[Jo1313]

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@Zhills wrote:

That cord is the result of stretching the cord to the kid's bedroom!

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We had one in Green and the cord was stretched for "privacy" to the bathroom..the only door with a lock on the inside!

[branny]

So funny. Yes we would stretch that cord so far so no one would hear the conversation.

miss those days. 

[Sage04]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@Tinkrbl44  Oh yea I lived in NY then. I loved those phones. Those cords reached from one side of the room to the next and they stretched like crazy.

[Sage04]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@lilywhite wrote:

We still have two wall mounted phones.  I can remember having to go to the town grocery store to use the phone, none at home. An operator dialed for you and everyone could listen in.  We had no electricity, no plumbing.  Later my mother had one of those phone benches, had a cubby for the phone book.  She spent a lot of time sitting on that bench talking on the phone.  I can imagine how much time she would have spent on a computer if she had one. 

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@lilywhite 

Your comment reminded me of the "party line" our neighborhood originally had.  If you wanted to use your phone, you picked it up to listen if anyone else was currently using the party line.  If so, you hung up and tried back a little later.    No privacy if someone else just listened in.

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@Tinkrbl44  I've heard about the party line. Your post reminds me of an episode of The Andy Griffith Show when a business man's car broke down on a Sunday and he tried to make a call and Maud and her friend were having a comversation about bursitis and whatever ailment. He got so mad.

Andy told him that on Sundays eveyone left the line open to Maud and her friend. That was so funny.

[Trailrun23]

We only had one phone in our house and it was like that. That cord would stretch from the hall to the other hall and into my room....my mom tried replacing the cord but it ended up the same way.

[Melzie]

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@qvcaddition wrote:

When I was a kid, we had 2way party lines.  Also had an operator you could speak with and ask the time or a phone # 

When I was a teen, we finally got a cord extension and I could sit down and talk.  Only allowed one phone call on school nights, after dinner and dishes and homework and chores done.

Later, one of my first jobs was as a teledphone operator for a big drug company where you had a big switchboard to plug calls in. 

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I remember this.  We had a 2 party line (there were 3 and 4 party lines that were cheaper) and your phone number was a word followed by a series of letters and numbers.  I remember being little and my mother drillng that number into my head in case I ever got lost.  :-)  Our word was canal, and some others were crestview, greenleaf, keystone, etc. and that would tell you what town(s) the number was located in.  No dial on the phone.  You'd just pick up the receiver and if someone was on you'd just hang up and try again later.  If the line was free an operator would come on and say "number please" and she'd connect you. I can still hear that nasally voice in my head.  When I was out in the working world we used to take turns on the switchboard plugging and unplugging.  Everyone hated it hence the rotation.

What a walk down memory lane!

[Zhills]

I was working as a telephone operator back then!

Know what a "telephone operator' is?

Non extistant today!

[SandySparkles]

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@Tinkrbl44 wrote:

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@Tinkrbl44 What a HILARIOUS blast from the past!!!😂😂

We had a yellow one that stretched so badly, we would get tangled up in it!😂

THANK you SO much for sharing this hysterical graphic. I thoroughly enjoyed it!!!❤

~~~All we need is LOVE💖

[bargainsgirl]

Of course and we still have one in our basement!!