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Tom said:
Or John Wilson wiring our sites at the Plymouth rally with several (500?) hundred feet of phone cord, creating our own "network". Anyone wishing to use "the network" was required to raise a flag so others wouldn't get online and jam the network. See here.
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Hey there ... we were on the cutting edge!  That was almost 16 years ago and none of us have aged a whit since!

Margi
 
[quote author=Just Lou].... what they heard instead of a tone, was a ticky, ticky,  ticky sound equal to the numerical value of the key they pressed.[/quote]

LOL Lou. Actually, it was two tones, one representing the horizontal numbers on the keypad, and the other representing the vertical numbers. Thus the term "multi-frequency".
 
[quote author=Wendy]Yep. Young.[/quote]

He's just a whipper snapper  ;D
 
PatrioticStabilist said:
My husband called a couple of times from Vietnam when he was there and from Taiwan when he was on R and R.  My phone number was R-36-D.  My husband said operators had never heard of such a number and had trouble with it. We had an old crank phone, ours was 3 longs.  Those were the days.  We still have the old phone on our family room wall from the old house.

What a revolution in electronics.  Now Tom and I or our son and I talk half way around the world.  Amazing.
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When my family lived at Caliola, a Shell Oil pump station with company houses, our number was 913-F-13.  That meant one long and three shorts on the plant whistle.  Then we picked up the phone at the house and "rung in".  Amazing!

Margi
 
Tom said:
LOL Lou. Actually, it was two tones, one representing the horizontal numbers on the keypad, and the other representing the vertical numbers. Thus the term "multi-frequency".
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Your side of the pond was evidently a bit ahead of us in that period. ;)
 
[quote author=Molaker]My youngest son will be 42 next year.[/quote]

Our oldest grandson is in his mid 30's. That would make me a .... dinosaur  :eek:
 
When I called home from college and gave the "number please" operator my parent's number (647-J) she rang once.  Then said "is this Margi?"  Yes.  "Your parents aren't home, they're at your grandma's having dinner ... I'll put you through."

I'm not so sure we've made progress.  ;D

Margi
 
[quote author=Just Lou]Your side of the pond was evidently a bit ahead of us in that period.
[/quote]

Negatory Lou. MF was MF, irrespective which side of the pond you were on. When I used to visit the US at that time (in the 70's) the phones were definitely MF and a source of entertainment for this buy from the sticks (aka boonies).

But .... time has a way of causing loss of memory ....
 
My first recollection of phone service was on my Grand Parents farm.  The party line designation was a long and a short.  I never knew how someone reached them from outside the local party line.

I remember once when someone called for my Grampa, that my Gramma announced that he wasn't yet home.  Some "busy body" on the party line piped up with "He'll be there directly, he just rounded the bend", meaning that he had just passed her house on the only curve between town and the farm.
 
To stay on topic ( ;D ), I distinctly recall the local pigeon fanciers group loading their birds on a train to 'somewhere'. On arrival at their destination, the pigeons would be released and, some hours later, they'd arrive 'home'.
 
Tom said:
Negatory Lou. MF was MF, irrespective which side of the pond you were on. When I used to visit the US at that time (in the 70's) the phones were definitely MF and a source of entertainment for this buy from the sticks (aka boonies).

But .... time has a way of causing loss of memory ....
Click to expand...

If not ahead, then 20 or 30 years behind.  I definitely remember hearing the transmission of pulses being sent down the line from what was proudly described as a "push button" phone.  What actually constituted a "touch tone" phone I hadn't a clue.
 
When I called home from college and gave the "number please" operator my parent's number (647-J) she rang once.  Then said "is this Margi?"  Yes.  "Your parents aren't home, they're at your grandma's having dinner ... I'll put you through."
Click to expand...

Margi, that was what I wish I had said, above. I remember my parents were out for the day, when I broke a pitcher and cut myself pretty badly. I think I was 9 or 10. I called the operator and told her my problem, tearfully. She said, "Hang on there. I'll get your aunt Betty. She'll take you to the doctor."

She did get aunt Betty, who drove over and took me to the doctor.

What the heck, I might as well tell the bad part. The cut was pretty bad. The doc stitched it and sent me to the hospital where I had to stay, overnight. I kept asking how much this was going to cost. I knew my dad would kill me. The hospital was $5.00, five dollars! The surgery was $20.00! And then, the broken pitcher. Expensive error!

Dad didn't kill me.

Oh, happy birthday, Ray. I turned 76 last Sunday. Anybody bidding higher than that?

Ray D  ;D
 
My Dad steadfastly refused to have a phone at home, saying that he was 'on the phone' too much at work. So we used the call box aka phone booth aka tardis at the end of the street.

Many years later my Dad agreed to install a home phone. Like all UK houses at that time, the phone was in the hallway, next to the front door. If the cord was long enough, it would reach into the 'front room' aka parlour.

With time differences, when I visited the UK, I'd sometimes be on the phone in the wee hours, shivering in my boots in the 'front room', which was the coldest room in the house. I tried to talk Dad into having the phone moved to the 'living room' aka family room, but he said he couldn't have private conversations there.

I went to the phone company store and ordered a cordless phone. Now, Dad could use his phone in whichever room (or bathroom) he chose; Private conversations could be held in the 'refrigerated front room', while normal conversations could be held in the warmth of the living room.

Dad thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.
 
I talked to people in around 240 countries prior to the internet - as a ham radio operator.  For a few years I traveled away from home and my wife and I talked via radio a couple of times a day, including when I was on trips up to a 1000 miles from home.

Later on I got involved in packet radio and talked to other hams via the keyboard - the ancestor to forums just like this.

N5ASD
 
Ray D:

More than once I've wished we still had those old "number please" operators back in our lives.  ;D  We've had a couple of occasions to dial 911, and those devoted servants do an excellent and caring job, too.

As to the bidding war .... Tom will be 79 next May.  He married a child bride 52 years ago.  ::)

Margi
 
Hi Scott,

In the early 80's I had a visitor at work in Santa Clara, CA who asked if I "knew Norm Vincent"? But of course, Norm and I had worked together in the 70's. I knew Norm was a ham and, somehow, he'd managed to talk with my visitor in San Jose, CA a few days earlier.

Here's a prior post regarding Norm.
 
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