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Thread Number: 95268
/ Tag: Other Home Products or Autos
Number PULEAZE! Part Seven: |
[Down to Last] |  |
Post# 1199089 2/11/2024 at 20:39 (299 days old) by Ultramatic  (New York City) |
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All about vintage telephones up to 1989. Advertisements, humor, history, collections, equipment, restoration/repair, technical questions, resources or just plain memories, it's all here. While emphasis is placed on American telephones, vintage telephones from around the world are also most welcomed.
"Hello central???"
Part One: http://www.automaticwasher.org/c...
Part Two: http://www.automaticwasher.org/c...
Part Three: https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?79508
Part Four: https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?81652
Part Five: https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?86772
Part Six: https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?90664 | ||
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Post# 1199091 , Reply# 1 2/11/2024 at 20:41 (299 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1916 | ||
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Post# 1199093 , Reply# 2 2/11/2024 at 20:42 (299 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1957 | ||
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Post# 1199094 , Reply# 3 2/11/2024 at 20:43 (299 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1965 | ||
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Post# 1199095 , Reply# 4 2/11/2024 at 20:44 (299 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1955 | ||
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Post# 1201650 , Reply# 6 3/16/2024 at 15:57 (265 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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I was a telephone operator for PT&T in Santa Rosa, Calif. from ‘76 thru ‘78 and I worked at a cord switch board. Even in the 70’s there were still many long distance calls that still required operator assistance and those of us “0” operators placed those calls for the customers from our cord switch boards. All International calls, Mobile calls, marine calls, coin telephone calls, collect calls, person to person calls, calls LD calls from Hotels and Motels and the County Jail were placed by the operator.
We also still had some customers in area code 707 that didn’t have dial telephones, they were on rural lines that required EVERY call to be placed by the operator. My family lived in such an area in the 60’s. We had 5 other customers on our party line and you had to listen for the ring in order to tell if the call was for your home. Our number was Russian Gulch #3 and our ring was one long and one short. To place a call you’d lift the receiver and listen to see if anyone else was on the line, in which case you’d have to hang up and wait until the line was clear and the operator would come on the line, announcing Operator, then you’d say, operator this is Russian Gulch #3 and I want to call Seaview #10 and the operator would ring down your your call for you. When I turned 13 in February 1964 my Mom was in Brooklyn, NY visiting relatives. When she called me to wish me a Happy Birthday it took her almost an hour to get the Operator to take her seriously that she was calling Russian Gulch #3 via the Santa Rosa Calif operator, she thought Mom was pulling her leg. There were no cell phones then and almost every call that wasn’t within your local area was a Long Distance call, and they all cost plenty. Customers in our area could direct dial intra and inter state LD numbers using 1 and then the area code and the line number, but for most of the 707 area code these calls still required some minimal operator assistance via the CAMA (Centralized Automated Message Accounting) operator. When an operator was working the CAMA board we would receive a beep in our headsets to indicate that a customer was on the line, then we would say, your number please (the number they were calling from) then we’d key in their number, say thank you and immediately get the next beep for the next call. A CAMA operator would key in an average of 600 telephone number per hour. This process is how these customer direct dialed calls were billed, so if a dishonest person gave the number for someone else as there number then that poor bastard was billed for the grifters call, but eventually Mother Bell caught up with these miscreants and billed them anyway, so the payment was just delayed by their dishonesty. Being a telephone operator was a very fast paced and interesting job, the time really did fly by when you were at the switch board. In the time period being depicted in the YT video many locals had designated LD operators that were reached by dialing 113 to reach the LD operator. Additionally, during the time period that I worked foe Ma Bell there was no 911 yet for emergency call, and the “0” operator handled ALL emergency calls and remained on the line until the emergency help arrived, Some of those call could be quite upsetting needless to say. It was a very different time when the telephone wasn’t taken for granted and every time it rang you rushed to answer it. There was no caller ID and very few crank calls. Today my telephone can ring several times a day and it doesn’t get answered because 99% of the calls are from fraudsters. It’s a different world indeed. Eddie | ||
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Post# 1201652 , Reply# 7 3/16/2024 at 17:30 (265 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine) |
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Eddie, my mother was an operator for Ma Bell and that was exactly the way it was back then and you did not get any discount on your bill for working there. Choice of a black desk or wall phone you rented, calling the next town was long distance. I worked for the phone company and was behind the scenes that shows how massive and extremely complicated the system that actually, always works. The first phone here was one long, one short, one long ring on a 12 party line. Glad those days are over and I still have a landline.
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Post# 1201653 , Reply# 8 3/16/2024 at 17:48 (265 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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Tim, my maternal Grandma’s parents owned a hotel in Sharon, Kansas in the early 20th century. Back in those days it was common in rural areas that telephone switch boards for the community to be owned by and located in hotels. My Great Grandpa had such a telephone switchboard located in his hotel. My Grandma and her sisters worked the switchboard when they weren’t in school.
During WWI there were many German farmers in that area of Kansas. When my Mom remarried in ‘70 my Great Aunt Mollie came down from Washington state to the wedding. At the reception I recall and Mollie and Grandma talking about their days of working at the switchboard during WWI. This was the first I ever knew about Great Grandpa having the telephone switchboard at the hotel. Apparently, Grandma and Mollie used to listen in on the calls, which is of course verboten. Mollie said to Grandma, “Sallie, remember how we used to cut off the those people when we heard them talking in German because we were sure that they must have been saboteur's?” There was a lot of animosity towards Germans in America during WWI. Eddie This post was last edited 03/16/2024 at 23:10 | ||
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Post# 1202054 , Reply# 10 3/21/2024 at 21:37 (260 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1916 | ||
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Post# 1202055 , Reply# 11 3/21/2024 at 21:50 (260 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1977 | ||
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Post# 1202060 , Reply# 12 3/21/2024 at 22:09 (260 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1943 | ||
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Post# 1202061 , Reply# 13 3/21/2024 at 22:11 (260 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Gray 1899 | ||
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Post# 1202063 , Reply# 14 3/21/2024 at 22:13 (260 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Iillinois Bell Telephone 1957 | ||
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Post# 1202325 , Reply# 16 3/26/2024 at 21:02 (255 days old) by Novum (Ireland) |
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That 1916 extension rental is $14.24 a month in 2024 money. Not much cheaper than an extra cable box or similar today. | ||
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Post# 1205182 , Reply# 18 5/11/2024 at 08:18 (209 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1963 | ||
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Post# 1205184 , Reply# 19 5/11/2024 at 08:50 (209 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Automatic Electric Company 1938 | ||
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Post# 1205185 , Reply# 20 5/11/2024 at 08:52 (209 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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American Electric Telephone Company 1908 | ||
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Post# 1205186 , Reply# 21 5/11/2024 at 08:54 (209 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1952 | ||
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Post# 1205187 , Reply# 22 5/11/2024 at 08:56 (209 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1957 | ||
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Post# 1206720 , Reply# 23 6/1/2024 at 21:31 (188 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1966 | ||
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Post# 1206722 , Reply# 24 6/1/2024 at 21:33 (188 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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AT&T 1968 | ||
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Post# 1206723 , Reply# 25 6/1/2024 at 21:37 (188 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1943 | ||
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Post# 1206725 , Reply# 26 6/1/2024 at 21:41 (188 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Stromberg-Carlson 1913 | ||
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Post# 1206727 , Reply# 27 6/1/2024 at 21:44 (188 days old) by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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The Bell System 1966 | ||
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Post# 1209377 , Reply# 28 7/14/2024 at 18:42 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1964 | ||
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Post# 1209378 , Reply# 29 7/14/2024 at 18:45 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1978 | ||
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Post# 1209379 , Reply# 30 7/14/2024 at 18:47 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1965 | ||
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Post# 1209380 , Reply# 31 7/14/2024 at 18:49 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Stromberg-Carlson 1910 | ||
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Post# 1213387 , Reply# 32 8/29/2024 at 19:28 by Novum (Ireland) |
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British GPO Operators - Before WWII I'm not sure what the date on this is, but it looks like maybe the late 1920s. Footage and sound from the GPO 'Overseas Service' - an operator exchange in London. | ||
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Post# 1213552 , Reply# 33 9/1/2024 at 08:55 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1965 | ||
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Post# 1213553 , Reply# 34 9/1/2024 at 08:56 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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AT&T 1967 | ||
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Post# 1213554 , Reply# 35 9/1/2024 at 08:58 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1934 | ||
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Post# 1213555 , Reply# 36 9/1/2024 at 09:01 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1961 | ||
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Post# 1213556 , Reply# 37 9/1/2024 at 09:03 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Consolidated Telephone Co. 1886 | ||
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Post# 1214721 , Reply# 38 9/14/2024 at 14:04 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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AT&T 1966 | ||
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Post# 1214722 , Reply# 39 9/14/2024 at 14:05 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1957 | ||
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Post# 1214724 , Reply# 40 9/14/2024 at 14:08 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Holtzer-Cabot Electric Co. 1917 | ||
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Post# 1214725 , Reply# 41 9/14/2024 at 14:11 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1974 | ||
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Post# 1214726 , Reply# 42 9/14/2024 at 14:13 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1961 | ||
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Post# 1215762 , Reply# 44 9/27/2024 at 15:09 by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan & Palm Springs, CA) |
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Post# 1217543 , Reply# 45 10/28/2024 at 16:26 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1974 | ||
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Post# 1217544 , Reply# 46 10/28/2024 at 16:28 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell System 1963 | ||
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Post# 1217545 , Reply# 47 10/28/2024 at 16:29 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone 1952 | ||
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Post# 1217546 , Reply# 48 10/28/2024 at 16:31 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1961 | ||
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Post# 1217547 , Reply# 49 10/28/2024 at 16:33 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Montgomery Ward 1916 | ||
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Post# 1218146 , Reply# 50 11/8/2024 at 00:20 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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AT&T 1967 | ||
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Post# 1218147 , Reply# 51 11/8/2024 at 00:22 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1934 | ||
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Post# 1218148 , Reply# 52 11/8/2024 at 00:24 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Western Electric 1959 | ||
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Post# 1218149 , Reply# 53 11/8/2024 at 00:26 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Ericsson Circa 1908 | ||
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Post# 1218150 , Reply# 54 11/8/2024 at 00:29 by Ultramatic (New York City) |
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Bell Telephone System 1961 | ||
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Post# 1218252 , Reply# 55 11/9/2024 at 17:52 by Novum (Ireland) |
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Post #50 Using an inflation calculator that would be $70.80 for a 3 minute call to Ireland or the UK to today!!! | ||
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Post# 1218255 , Reply# 56 11/9/2024 at 18:42 by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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Re:#55 Yes Jack, and at $7.50 for 3 mins these Long Distance calls were damn expensive in 1967 too! Minimum wage was $1.35 an hr. in ‘67 so a 3 min call would have cost a min wage earner almost 6 hours of their earnings!
People didn’t just causally pick up the phone and ideally talk on LD calls then. They got down to business right away and these LD calls were of short duration, that is unless you were wealthy.
Eddie | ||
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