One of the First IN TOWN TO HAVE…#1
We were often the first in town to have things. It was probably because my father made a better living than most in town (even though he was probably on of the few “poor" doctors in the US. However, like his son and grandsons, he liked new “technologies” and was progressive.
Telephone
I mentioned in an earlier blog, we were possibly the first in town to have a private telephone line. In fact, many in town did not have phones at all. Some people we knew would give others our phone number, and if a call came in for them, my mother would dispatch little me to run across town to get them…all the while the caller was hanging on.
The person I would go after, often someone like Ruth Smith or Mrs. Heist, would then walk quickly down one of the unpaved streets (maybe 10 min.) and come to use our phone.
At first our phone was on a party line. These were the tall black phones, and you would crank a handle, I believe on a box on the wall to ring someone. And you had to listen when someone range for you. Ours was two longs and a short…that was what we had to listen to in order to know if it was for us or not.
I never knew who was also on our line. If we were using the phone and the other person wanted on and thought we were on too long, that person would pick up the phone ever so many minutes and then slam it down…hint, hint. I’m sure we never did the same…. But it would be a pain to want to call someone and have someone else on the line.
Because our father was the local doctor and delivered babies, it was important that people be able to reach us, so eventually we got our own private line. That was a big deal.
To be continued…
Telephone
I mentioned in an earlier blog, we were possibly the first in town to have a private telephone line. In fact, many in town did not have phones at all. Some people we knew would give others our phone number, and if a call came in for them, my mother would dispatch little me to run across town to get them…all the while the caller was hanging on.
The person I would go after, often someone like Ruth Smith or Mrs. Heist, would then walk quickly down one of the unpaved streets (maybe 10 min.) and come to use our phone.
At first our phone was on a party line. These were the tall black phones, and you would crank a handle, I believe on a box on the wall to ring someone. And you had to listen when someone range for you. Ours was two longs and a short…that was what we had to listen to in order to know if it was for us or not.
I never knew who was also on our line. If we were using the phone and the other person wanted on and thought we were on too long, that person would pick up the phone ever so many minutes and then slam it down…hint, hint. I’m sure we never did the same…. But it would be a pain to want to call someone and have someone else on the line.
Because our father was the local doctor and delivered babies, it was important that people be able to reach us, so eventually we got our own private line. That was a big deal.
To be continued…
posted by PB at 7:48 PM
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