<VV> You Are Old and Phones (no Corvair)

[Bill Hubbell]

If you really want to learn about old phones you should visit Smitty's home - he has an impressive collection of them. 

Bill

On Sep 20, 2011, at 12:38 AM, "J R Read" <hmlinc at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> I could tell you about phones that you had to crank at grandma's house, but 
> I'll tell you about 1952 (I was 10) when we moved to Tinley Park, IL.  The 
> phone number was 205.  The phone had no dial - so I guess the term "dial a 
> number" had not been invented?  You picked up the BELL (on a circle in the 
> middle) phone and the operator said "number please"?  If you didn't know the 
> number, you just told her who you wanted because she knew every number in 
> town.
> 
> About a year later, the numbers went over 1,000 and we got new phones with 
> dials.  We also got an additional digit at the front of our number and we 
> became 2205.
> 
> Like Model T Fords - all phones were black in those days.  No more pleasant 
> operator when dial phones came into the picture - just a dial tone when you 
> picked up.  Well, if you were on a party line you might have gotten into 
> someone else's conversation and you would hang up and wait a few minutes 
> (unless the conversation was juicy).
> 
> At some point - 2 or 3 years later - the Chicagoland area went to the 
> "Exchange" system.  The exchange was like a word, but you only used the 
> first 2 letters when dialing.  By then, letters had been associated with 
> numbers - like your cell phone - 2=abc.  Our Exchange was Kellogg which 
> translated to KE - 2205 - OR 532205.
> 
> About the time all of that was going on, you could now get phones in colors 
> (some lighted) and also have more than one in your house.  Really long 
> "coil" cords became the rage.  Mom could cook WHILE talking on the phone - 
> even the one in the living room would stretch to the kitchen!  It was a 
> trick to untangle THAT cord.
> 
> I'm guessing all this happened in 7 or 8 years.  So now we are up to the 
> birth of the Corvair and you all know the "rest of the story".
> 
> Later, JR
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Charles Fregeau" <n5hsr at sprynet.com>
> To: <Wrsssatty at aol.com>; <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 10:21 PM
> Subject: Re: <VV> You Know You Are Old When (no Corvair)
> 
> 
>> I've got four different versions of that round disk with holes thingy here
>> with me.  The first phone I remember was a big black WE 554 wall phone by
>> the pantry.  I remember when telephone numbers had words in them.  I
>> remember having relatives with numbers that couldn't be dialed like
>> Chauncey 11F13.
>> 
>> I remember a time before
>> Cell phones
>> Answering machines
>> Portable computers
>> Transistorized radios
>> Japanese imports
>> 
>> I also remember a time we had to put new plates on every year, if not in
>> December then January here in Illinois.  That was my responsibility with 
>> the
>> Corvair we owned.
>> 
>> Charles Fregeau
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
> 
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