1 minute ago, Grandpadave52 said:

...only in so much as the "healthy debate" aligns with Twitter's view on every matter...

and the censors/dictators; FB/Google/YT/Yahoo...

 

Too late! Healthy conversation died when the cell phone was born!

John

21 hours ago, HARO50 said:

 

Too late! Healthy conversation died when the cell phone was born!

John

Or, was it when they did away with party lines?

1 minute ago, Gene Howe said:

Or, was it when they did away with party lines?

I think ours was two longs & a short.

28 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I think ours was two longs & a short.

Ours was one long, two short. Farmers north of here still had the old hand crank, and "Hello, Mabel. Can you get me Charlie?" This was from '57 to the early '60s.

John

28 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

I think ours was two longs & a short.

Ours was one long, two short. Farmers north of here still had the old hand crank, and "Hello, Mabel. Can you get me Charlie?" This was from '57 to the early '60s.

John

Wow...who would have thunk it...we must have been on opposite ends of the same line

My great-aunt/uncle lived in the same county but they lived on the farm...small private telephone company...they still had the wall, hand crank, wooden body phone until the late 60's.

 

My grandmother lived in town part of Ma Bell had a desk model similar to the old style rotary dial, but no dial until the mid 60's. I remember both just picking up and talking to the operator at times just to visit and get caught up on "gossip." No doubt others listened in...it was always funny to hear the "click(s)" after you had answered and talked for a while.

 

We were still on a 3 party line until my Senior year of HS (70-71)...that was only because we moved to a different farm. Good 'ole days!

When grampa got a dial phone, he took his crank phone innards fishing. 

8 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

When grampa got a dial phone, he took his crank phone innards fishing. 

My dad "mentioned" doing something like that too. Same story usually included something about re-purposing a Model -T coil, some wire and a switch to be activated when someone leaned on the door to talk through the open window. Apparently both led to shocking results.

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

No doubt others listened in...it was always funny to hear the "click(s)" after you had answered and talked for a while.

Dad's first job in this country was farmhand. Two farms, parents and a son on one, and the married son on the other. We became good friends, and over the years we kids spent large parts of our summers on those farms. Grandma would pick up the phone verrryy slowly to listen in on other people's conversations. The problem was, she had a rather vocal budgie.... a dead giveaway!

John

1 hour ago, Gene Howe said:

When grampa got a dial phone, he took his crank phone innards fishing. 

Ah, yes.... Uncle Ralph! He had the farm across the road. Worked as a blasting expert in the mines up north, and spent his vacation time on the farm. One day he told his nephew to hop in the truck, they were going fishing. Nephew wanted to get his pole, but Ralph said he wouldn't need it! They drove to a local creek, and Ralph got out a couple sticks of dynamite, and placed them in a tin can with a 60 second fuse. The can was placed in the water, the fuse lit, and they ducked into the woods to await the "big bang". Unfortunately, Ralph had forgotten to take into account the fact that the creek had a good flow! The can drifted right under the old log bridge, and the explosion lifted the logs, causing years of packed dirt to sift through into the water. They raced home, got a tractor with a bucket, and had the bridge ALMOST repaired by the time a police cruiser came down the road. They explained that the bridge needed a little sprucing up, and no further questions were asked. No fish dinner THAT night!

John

Edited November 8, 20187 yr by HARO50

Get rid of twitter and keep the LIKE here W/ all the other e-cons, this is way better than just a like button. You could add a HF button tho.

 

 

Herb

36 minutes ago, Dadio said:

You could add a HF button tho.

May just do that Herb, just for you.

1 hour ago, John Morris said:

May just do that Herb, just for you.

GHF (Go Harbor Freight)