The 1966 AT&T ad made me think of my friend Mike. I met him around 1982 when he was an ESS tech for Cincinnati Bell Telephone. At the time he was 36, recently divorced, and had three kids. Unfortunately I lost contact with him a couple years later, and didn't locate him until 2021. I sent him a Christmas card, and he called me a few days later, and we talked for over an hour. We had hoped to get together that Summer, but it never happened. Much to my disappointment, I found out he passed away in December, 2022.
Number PULEAZE! Part Seven:
- Thread starter Ultramatic
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Bendix 1947
When I was a telephone operator in the mid to late 70’s I worked as a Toll operator for the last year there. We each worked a 8 pair cord switchboard and we occasionally got “Mobile Calls” from people on car phones like in the ad. I remember once an older operator next to me telling the caller, “mobile move to higher ground” because the reception was cutting out while she was trying to connect the call. Mobile calls were all operator assisted calls back then, no direct dialing from car phones. The calls were all connected and disconnected by the operator on a cord switchboard, just like a long distance call on a payphone was then.
Eddie
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Bell System 1925
New York Telephone - Bell System 1966
Bell Telephone System 1959
Western Electric 1969
1959 ad. The phone with the dial in the handset became the Timeline, after some restyling. The one shown with pushbuttons was a modified model 500. The production model released was the 1500 (10 button), then the 2500 (12 button).
It's supposed to be Trimline, not timeline.
Bell Telephone System 1961
Back in the olden days when dinosaurs still roamed the earth and I left my parents home at the age of 19 in ‘70 I couldn’t afford a telephone for the first year on my own. So I used telephone booths to call home once a week, 45 cents for the first three mins. I always used the phone booths at the Pacific Telephone office on Liberty St in Petaluma, Calif because they were the nicest ones. They were built into the side of the building and had a comfortable seat, a real door for privacy and even a fan if it was hot outside.
Now a days phone booths are as scarce as hens teeth! BTW, for the Boomers, remember when they began installing emergency phones along the freeways in the ‘70’s? That was a real comfort to see those phones along long stretch's the freeway, knowing that a call for help in an emergency was possible in those days before the ubiquitous cell phone.
As Archie and Edith Bunker used to sing “Those were the days”!
Eddie
Now a days phone booths are as scarce as hens teeth! BTW, for the Boomers, remember when they began installing emergency phones along the freeways in the ‘70’s? That was a real comfort to see those phones along long stretch's the freeway, knowing that a call for help in an emergency was possible in those days before the ubiquitous cell phone.
As Archie and Edith Bunker used to sing “Those were the days”!
Eddie
phillymatt53
Well-known member
Well, I guess I'll admit that I'm an Old School retired old codger.....
Yes, I've got a nice white 1970's touch-tone Princess on the side table in my living room.
And I use it almost daily.
And as they used to advertize.... "It's Little, It's Lovely, It lights!
Yes, I've got a nice white 1970's touch-tone Princess on the side table in my living room.
And I use it almost daily.
And as they used to advertize.... "It's Little, It's Lovely, It lights!
I have a few Princess phones too. But they're dial. I currently have a white Western Electric 554 in the kitchen. Love those mechanical bells!Well, I guess I'll admit that I'm an Old School retired old codger.....
Yes, I've got a nice white 1970's touch-tone Princess on the side table in my living room.
And I use it almost daily.
And as they used to advertize.... "It's Little, It's Lovely, It lights!
When I worked for the phone company many of those nice old phones ended up in the trash. I rescued a good variety like 7 Trimlines in different colors including the rare orange plus desktop dial models with the amplifier and wall models. Some are hooked up and you easily can hear it ring outside loud and clear.
Bell System 1979
phillymatt53
Well-known member
Sometimes I watch old reruns of All In The Family, it brings back memories of another world we lived in.
Mom loved that show, I used to hear her laughing downstairs from my bedroom.
I knew what she was watching on the tv.
As for cellphones these days, Nah, I cling to my Old School ways, I've kept my Landline as the only communication source I want, besides of course, the internet.
5 phones around the house, along with a 1990s Radio Shack cassette answering machine is all I need.
Mind you, before I retired, I did have a cellphone for 18 years, one of those "candy bar" types, which I used mainly for work and connecting with people when I went on trips.
But ya know what?
Since I've shed that phone, shed the costs, I have had a refreshing return to a more normal life, a step back when I was more in control.
And it's fantastic!
It's uncanny, but people these days don't seem to realize what they have turned into.
They've allowed themselves to be "conditioned" by this technology, so it's anchored itself as "being normal".
But what they don't seem to realize is that it's made them puppets, trained to follow the crowd, and become hostage to a plethora of "Apps" in order to live.
Just like any addiction, be it drugs, alcohol, etc., indeed they've turned into living zombies.
Cellphones can be of value however, such as if your car breaks down.
But when did office executives become forced into clinging to one?
This is the current life, the changes, mandates, that are not always are for the good of society.
Ok, enough of my spewing my guts out. LOL!
We’ve had the same telephone number since 1987, originally a landline, then about 10 years ago we ported it to VOIP. It’s the number we use for everything. We do both have cellphones for emergencies and to receive text msgs and we carry our cellphones with use when we are away from home either in the car or on foot. But we don’t give our cellphone numbers out, preferring to just use the old number on VOIP for telephone correspondence.
Neither of our Jitterbug Smart phones are connected to the internet. I would agree with post #96. I don’t need to be a slave to tech, but I do use it as it suits my life and needs.
Eddie
Neither of our Jitterbug Smart phones are connected to the internet. I would agree with post #96. I don’t need to be a slave to tech, but I do use it as it suits my life and needs.
Eddie
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phillymatt53
Well-known member
You're one of the few, sensible ones, Eddie.
