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Your first phone

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
First i remember is
s-l300.jpg

I also remember getting into a lot of trouble dialing a random number and speaking to a girl in Germany who was learning English for about 45 minutes before mom walked in an asked who i was talking to.



Then we got one of these, mom hated it, the horrible cheap sound it made when ringing (high pitched buzzing) set her teeth on edge
images (8).jpeg


So it wasn't long before we got
bt-viscount-9511r-1985-retro_360_97b8dd4c47cd6f0f71f9abb9a72a1fff.jpg
 

Stonetree

Model Member
Premium Member
GKIII
First i remember is
View attachment 65194
I also remember getting into a lot of trouble dialing a random number and speaking to a girl in Germany who was learning English for about 45 minutes before mom walked in an asked who i was talking to.



Then we got one of these, mom hated it, the horrible cheap sound it made when ringing (high pitched buzzing) set her teeth on edge
View attachment 65195

So it wasn't long before we got
View attachment 65197
No, not feminine products ......the thread is about telephones......
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
My very first foster home had a phone just like this. We're talking about 1952, way out in the country. It was a party line, so everybody on it could listen to all the other conversations. Naturally, they never, ever did. :D

Viaduct_electric_wall_phone.jpg
 

Daemon Sophic

Avatar in flux
Yep. On the wall in the kitchen. I don't remember what color. Probably the same as in the photo. Or maybe it was that olive green that was popular back in the 60s.

Lots of these over the years ...

maxresdefault.jpg
^^^. This, but ours was white.

I swear, this was in our house when I was a kid (ours was darker IIRC). It got replaced shortly after I was about 4.

24307947_1.jpg
I remember my friend’s grandparents had one of these cool hipster items in their house.

Either one still required calling the operator, who would then connect you to whoever else you needed. And yes, when we had 2 phones, anyone could pick up the other phone and listen in.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
I swear, this was in our house when I was a kid (ours was darker IIRC). It got replaced shortly after I was about 4.

24307947_1.jpg
This was the first phone that I saw. We children had no use for it, but it was the only one in the neighborhood and elders used it. However, I never came to acquire a mobile phone, though all in the family have it. I cannot operate a mobile phone. I must be one of the rare people in the country in this regard. Now I can't hear well, so I l;et it be.
 

Estro Felino

Believer in free will
Premium Member
Yep. On the wall in the kitchen. I don't remember what color. Probably the same as in the photo. Or maybe it was that olive green that was popular back in the 60s.

Lots of these over the years ...

maxresdefault.jpg
I have noticed that all American phones had letters too, besides numbers.
What were they for?
 

Stonetree

Model Member
Premium Member
I have noticed that all American phones had letters too, besides numbers.
What were they for?
Those letters or numbers, today, in the area where I lived were called 'exchange numbers'. They were just another way to mark some geographic section of a city, county, or state...Today, where I live they use just numbers to do the same thing...
 
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Estro Felino

Believer in free will
Premium Member
Those numbers in the area where I lived were called 'exchange numbers'. They were just another way to mark some geographic section of a city, county, or state...Today, where I live they use just numbers to do the same thing...
Thank you. That's interesting.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
I don't remember where it came from, but we have this one.
m_5a869c9d36b9deba2211052c.jpg

We also had this, though I haven't seen it in awhile so we may not have this one anymore (this was pretty much my mom's phone).
s-l500.jpg
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
I have noticed that all American phones had letters too, besides numbers.
What were they for?
Some companies make a phrase or name out of them. Like the pizza chain Papa Johns, some of there stores have 7272 as the last four digits which they will last as PAPA as those letters and numbers correspond to each other. Such things are probably over 99% of how it gets used. Sometimes it was used to enter information like t9 texting, but not very often because it is a tedious pain in the rear to do.
 

Stonetree

Model Member
Premium Member
Some companies make a phrase or name out of them. Like the pizza chain Papa Johns, some of there stores have 7272 as the last four digits which they will last as PAPA as those letters and numbers correspond to each other. Such things are probably over 99% of how it gets used. Sometimes it was used to enter information like t9 texting, but not very often because it is a tedious pain in the rear to do.
@John53....??...No way Jose...!
 

pearl

Well-Known Member
This is similar to my first mobile phone I owned,

Boy does this bring back memories

86283_a8626d6280ac50d1e9251af6c82742bf.jpg


We were sailing our Grady White from R I to Toms River NJ. Had several problems. Our son-in-law let us borrow this phone to keep in touch. We were long overdue, and family was trying to reach us, plus the Coast Guard because they had reported us overdue. I tried to answer the phone and couldn't figure out how.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Anyone remember 'party lines'? Our home phone when I was a kid was a party line. Sometimes you'd pick it up to call out and the neighbor would already be talking to someone on the line. You'd have to wait until they were off. Caused lots of arguments, and gossip. :)
 

PureX

Veteran Member
I have noticed that all American phones had letters too, besides numbers.
What were they for?
Back in the day, phone numbers also included letters; like "BR 549", or NE82197. The letters designated the locality where the party being called is. I think it was for the benefit of the switchboard operators that had to manually 'patch' a phone call through the designated wires. They would physically pull up the "BR" phone wire and plug it into the "549" jack on the board in front of them.

l20236602_l.jpg
 

Estro Felino

Believer in free will
Premium Member
Back in the day, phone numbers also included letters; like "BR 549", or NE82197. The letters designated the locality where the being called is. I think it was for the benefit of the switchboard operators that had to manually 'patch' a phone call through the designated wires.
That's interesting.
 
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