Who remembers, Party Lines

[26Reload]

All those people listening to you talking with your teen crush.....and laughing all the way....

 

[MtPockets]

Having older sisters in the house, I seldom got to use the phone but that was ok. I spent most of my time outside anyway and if my friends wanted to talk, they knew where I lived.
My one sister had a party line at her house. Seems like sometimes there was a slight 'click' when someone else picked up?

 

[Hela52]

We had to pay attention to the number of rings so we would know if the call was for us or a neighbor!

 

[MtPockets]

As for TV, I was forbidden to watch Monty Python and Benny Hill on the UHF station but where there's a will, there's a way!

You couldn't watch Benny Hill??? That right there borders on abuse!
Our whole family would gather round and watch it, until the sisters would get bored of the sick humor and go to bed.
See, they just didn't know what real comedy was!

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

Yep, I have 6 brothers and sisters and we would get in trouble if we got caught listening to neighbors. My one brother and I would be talking to our girl friends talking dirty and we would hear people snickering. We had the neighborhood gossiping.
Yes you would hear a click if someone picked up or hung up.

 

[shaughn]

Some places in Canada still had party lines into the 80s, until all the exchanges were updated, rotary phones went about 1992 on the farm...we still have a pay phone at the sub station...only one left..in the area I think..cell service...police still stop in now and then to use the land line

 

[3chester]

Remember that long white oak, wall mounted phone,that if a kid stood on chair and reached up, could just get the receiver off the hook to listen.

 

[1moredeer]

My grandma and grandpa had a party line, they were three rings. There were strict "no talking" times, 12pm= As the World Turns, 6pm= Gunsmoke, and Saturday night at 6pm= The Lawrence Welk Show. It was like lightning struck if you even thought about talking during one of those times.

 

[ShtrRdy]

We had a party line when my wife and I moved to our current location 42 years ago. Gravel roads too. Now the roads are paved and we have had our own phone number for about 30 years. The local population has increased about 400%.

 

[Baker Alvin]

Dial phones and party lines, huge upgrade to push button and private line!

 

[PlumberEd]

I remember them well. My best friend shared our party line, IIRC I had to dial his number, then hang up the receiver, our phone would start ringing, when it stopped ringing I would pick up the phone and magically the other party was on the line.

 

[cape cove]

Remember the party line real well. Our # was 440 ring 1.

 

[LoneTraveler]

I remember those days.
When I was a kid, We had a wooden box phone that hung on the wall. Party line. Our ring was short, long, short. When we got a TV, 2 channels and an antenna way up on the high point behind our house.
I remember at our house or my uncle Holden's house on Friday night, We had a corn shelling party. One of the adults would take each ear of corn. Remove any bad kernels from the ear. Then hand it to us kids to shell. Put the corn in a clean white cloth bag, Saturday it went to the mill on way to town. Great corn bread and hush puppies.

 

[Reelamin]

Oh of course. All the houses a mile or so out from the main line were not party. Several of my neighbor buddys close to the mainline were party line. Yes I can still hear Errol a big mean logger yelling at people who were listening in, then laying their phone down off the hook and telling us to make as much noise as we could.