We Haven't Had A Telephone Thread For A Long Time

[mathewhebailey0]

Japan phone calls,etc.

I wonder if Japan's telephone systems were like from early 20th century to present in sounds,etc. & if the electromechanical switching systems to present were Strowger,crossbar or anything else. Plus any telephone recordings,etc. involving loss in
phone communication,etc. the instant the atomic bombs were detonated in Nagasaki & Hiroshima as well as the tsunami & earthquake. I suppose when the bombs detonated,the telephone recordings if any exist, probably at the time were grooved disc or magnetic wire recordings not erased by the EMP magnetic fields the bombs might have generated,plus Japanese phone/phone system sounds/ recordings between then & present.

 

[ovrphil]

Mike :

No, I grew up in the metro Detroit area(when Detroit was a real city), and moved here 19 years ago. That's the first thing I noticed about this area, it has a HUGE coverage area. I love the change from the compartmentalized area codes of Detroit - they made more money by making more area codes and charging for outside area code 313 calls. Atlanta is a dream, by contrast.

 

[a440]

Mike I remember when I moved to Atlanta in 1987 I was amazed at who I could call and it was not "long distance"!  In fact I would tell friends  and family during this period from other states and countries and they did not believe me.  So funny to think about it all now.

About the long distance call hacks!  I was guilty for my pranks on "Bell South" or whomever.  I would call collect and when the person would answer I would yell, "I made it all right"!  And that was the end of the conversation.  Of course you could not do this from a home phone.  You could only do it from a Payphone.    

Life was so fun back when.

B

 

[rp2813]

To Henry Dreyfuss -- Thanks for everything -- Julie Newmar

LOL Phil --  Everybody had a black 500 "for eons" back then.  The phone was like a member of the family, it was such a fixture.  The same instrument carried the good and the bad, with news of events happy and sad, often for upwards of 20 years without any need for servicing.

 

Seeing as how there are likely millions of old phone sets still in service across the nation, after 20 years these phones were just barely broken in.

 

I have phone sets that are older types, but the 500 model has become my runaway favorite.  It has been suggested as the greatest piece of 20th century industrial design, and I agree 100%.

 

 

 

[gusherb]

Funny about that huge local calling area. Around here in area code 219 if you call any area past about 20 miles but still well within the 219 area code its considered long distance. I find that perplexing. And if you dial any number within 219 that isn't within the "local" calling area or isn't Ma Bells (GTE serviced the more rural areas just east of here) you must dial the area code with it or get the recording telling you to do so.

Chicago had another interesting system that I still haven't quite grasped yet, metered local calling with distance based rates. Add to that you also had a local call alottment before those distance based rates kicked in. This is ALL they offered in 2003 when my mother first opened up a business in the city of Chicago and all they had for a long while til somewhere after 2010.

 

[ovrphil]

rp2813 - my neighbor and childhood friend's dad worked for Michigan Bell and got all the newest phones as or typically before they were made available to the public. He said they gave the phones to the employees like him to test(beta testing?). You couldn't order those phones, which were Princess Rotary, touchtone later, and other versions. We trudged along with our black frumpy-looking, dial phone(500) until my mom caved and bought the touchtone/pushbutton version of that same design, in an almond.

And to just frame your comment: "The same instrument carried the good and the bad, with news of events happy and sad", our model 500 carried news of my mom's dad choosing suicide(cancer of the bladder)in 1955. That evening around supper time is frozen along with what comes to mind when I see a model 500, black-colored phone.

Ghusherb: it was similar around the Detroit area later in the 80's and 90's(we left in 1996). You know the feeling you get that something feels like a "racket". After coming to Atlanta, what a relief to be free from the web of Michigan Bell calling rules, rates and restrictions. We told our families and friends what a huge area the 404 and 770 area covered, without dialing a 1. Then, 678 came along and some things have changed.

 

[a440]

Phil you must have moved to the Atlanta after December 1995.  Until then our only area code was 404.  

It is wild how "Bell South" varied from state to state.  I remember having a map of the 404 Calling Area that actually came with my phone bill.  I want to say in 1988.  Georgia Bell was very proud of the Vast 404 Calling Area.  

I grew up in New Orleans and lived in Missouri, New York, and Tennessee and was amazed at the calling area when I moved to Atlanta in late 1987.  Wonder if Georgia had certain laws to restrict Bell South from being such jerks and limiting the calling area?  

 

 

[michaelman2]

Brent,

 

I am not sure if there were restrictions placed on Southern Bell regarding that very large 404 calling area.   When I was a kid I remember my parents talking about the  large  calling area with  friends  that lived in other states.   I believe Touch Tone service became available in the late 1960s,  Near my home is a former Southern Bell building.   I believe it is still owned by a telephone company.   This thing is like a fortress, and I have not been inside in at least 30+ years.  When I did tour it, it looked and sounded like a large switching station.   I do not know if it still operates as such?

 

[ovrphil]

Brent - I moved here in December 1995. I never heard of 770 area codes, when I first came here, even in 1996, til later.

Mike - I remember my neighbor getting the touch-dial phones in 1963, but before public release later that year. They were always getting these new phones before anyone could have them installed, as they were employees who were chosen to test the new technology for a few months before publicly available. Nice.

 

[a440]

Michael I would love to have toured the building by your home in it's busy day.  I bet it was the switching station for your entire area within 40+ miles.  I toured one in New Orleans once and it was so loud from all of the mechanical switching you had to wear ear plugs.  Even with the plugs in it was still loud.

I know they do use "switching" today, but I don't think there is any "mechanical switching" used today.

Below is a fun 1951 Bell Systems video on how it all worked.  It was designed for Employee Training. 

 

 

[ea56]

When I first went to work for PT&T in July 1976 as part of my orientation I was taken on a tour of the switching rooms. It was really quite amazing. They showed me a call originating in the equipment and l followed it through the banks of switching equipment. And it was very loud as I recall. The building that I worked in was 6 stories high, all concrete, no windows and was supposed to be able to withstand a nuclear blast. Thankfully it has never been put to the test. It was considered to be a Civil Defense facility. The Directory Assistance office was on the 6th floor, the Toll office with the swithboards was on the 1st floor and floors 2 thru 5 were devoted to switching and other equipment. This building has been vacant now for several years now that everything has gone digital and computerized. The city of Santa Rosa now owns it and has talked of turning it into a museum.