Ring-a-ling, who’s there? It’s me, Becky!
Just look at this beautiful antique telephone—and it’s in my house! My mother was an antique collector, and my sisters and I have been the recipients of her beautiful antiques. This particular telephone was common about 1880. It’s extremely heavy and requires a stud to be mounted. When my grandchildren come over to visit, they always enjoy turning the crank on the right when they pick up the earpiece on the left. And then they say all kinds of things in the mouth piece!
And what a thankful Nana I am to see them enjoy my antique telephone. The only other place they could see one of these things would probably be in a museum, and even then, it would be hands off.
Today, we hold telephones in the palm of our hands, and some of us may even have telephones on our wrists in the form of a watch. Unbelievable!
When I traveled to my maternal grandparents’ house as a young girl, I observed how a party line telephone worked. My grandparents “shared” their telephone with a couple of neighbors. One was Mrs. Bough.
Anyway, here is how a party-line worked. A party line was a local telephone loop circuit that was shared by more than one subscriber, especially in rural areas in the first half of the 20th century. It was not uncommon to pick up a telephone receiver and hear a conversation taking place. There was supposed to be party line etiquette which dictated never listening in on another person’s call. Each subscriber had an assigned ring, some short, some long. And families had to know their own ring code.
I will never forget the day I picked up the heavy black receiver resting on the cradle of the telephone in Mamaw’s kitchen, and I heard someone already talking.
“Mamaw, what’s going on? Someone is already talking on the telephone!”
“Hang it up, Becky. Don’t listen.”
And I obediently replaced the receiver, fascinated by this strange phenomenon as my grandmother explained party lines to me.
One day I heard my mother say she was going to call my aunt. Mamaw said, “Be careful what you say, Alberta. You know Mrs. Bough is always listening.”
What? I thought to myself.
I learned Mrs. Bough listened in on all the phone calls coming and going from the Thomas family.
Sometimes Mrs. Bough called Mamaw and would gossip about all kinds of things going on in the town, news purportedly traveling around through other party lines. After hanging up, Mamaw would chuckle to my mother and say, “Well, Mrs. Bough evidently listened in on my phone call, otherwise she would not have known about such and such.”
Mamaw never allowed me or my sisters or any visiting cousins to listen in on Mrs. Bough’s phone calls. That was a big NO. My grandmother was just adhering to honest telephone etiquette, but truthfully, she was also imparting the traits of respect and honesty to her grandchildren.
Oh, those were the days. What I wouldn’t give to pick up my cell phone and call my Mamaw Thomas and thank her for these valuable life lessons.
Do any of you remember party lines? Any other antique telephones out there? Just reply to this email or scroll down to make a comment. I reply to all comments and emails I receive! And if you know of others in your circle who enjoy family stories, please feel free to forward.
And . . . do you have a special family story to share? Just let me know at beckyvanvleet9@gmail.com.
I remember the party lines and I also remember having two phones in the house so two people could speak to someone phone or who had phoned. I felt extreme embarrassment when the first boy called me when I was a teenager and my two little sisters decided to listen in on the other line! All through our conversation, I could hear them snickering and giggling. Awkward! Thanks for a great remembrance.
Hi Lisbeth, thanks for stopping by! Yes, I’m sure that was embarrassing for little sisters to be listening in–oh my!
This was fun, Becky. No, I don’t remember using a party line phone, but I think my Nan-Nan had one for a while. Makes me wonder if our cellphones and watch phones will be antiquated some day. Our great grands will probably laugh at them and us. Of course we, I at least, will never know except looking down from heaven and laughing. I wish I wrote historical. Surely you could incorporate shared landlines in one of your children’s books.
Hugs, Bonnie
Hi Bonnie, thanks for stopping by! Yes, someday we will probably look down from heaven and laugh at this stuff. Well, with your encouragement, maybe I’ll find a way to incorporate party lines in a future book!
Oh, Becky. Your blog took me right back!!! (We’re really not that old, folks, we just have awesome memories!!! HA!) I remember picking up the receiver once and having a female voice bark, “I’m on the line. Wait your turn!” I was afraid of the telephone for quite a while after that. The thing yelled at me!!!
We lived in NJ and had relatives in CA. The operator would call us and make arrangement for when they’d call. Just like clockwork, the phone would ring and one of our uncles or aunts would be on the line! It was a lot like the radio – we’d all gather ’round and, not often enough, my dad or mom would take a breath and tell us what the Californian said, then go back to chattering on again.
Those were the days!!! Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane, Becky! 🙂
Hi Erma! Oh my, getting scolded on the phone could be frightening, and especially if you weren’t expecting the telephone to start talking back to you. I remember that’s how I felt the first time I picked up the phone at my grandparents’ home and heard someone talking. I was totally befuddled until my grandmother explained it to me. I’m so thankful for these memories–a treasured part of our history.
Hi Becky. Yes, I do remember party lines. What a blessing that you learned about honesty and respect from this fascinating instrument. I don’t have an antique land line phone, but I do still have one of the first cell phones, called a “bag phone.” It was in a case and was rather bulky. I do laugh now when I think of that phone and think of the phone capability on my Apple watch (which I still need to learn how to use!). Thank you for sharing this story from your childhood.
Hi Patti! I think you should hang on to that first cell phone. I wish I’d kept ours. It was pretty big and we could take it in the car to charge and we could call long distance without an extra cost on our telephone bill. I thought that was amazing! I’m wondering if what we had was like your “bag phone”.
I do remember! I think our number was 1 1 3, two shorts and a long. We had maybe five other families on the line.
And making a call to Grandpa 7 mi away was verboten b/c it was long distance and not free. (:
Hi Gail, well, it sounds like you’ve got some memories with party lines. And five families? That could have been challenging. My grandparents’ party line only had three families on it!
How fun to have that phone in your house! And the fun (and teaching moments) it offers your grandchildren–and maybe grownup visitors too!
Hi Barbara, Yes, it’s fun to have this antique phone in our house. And you’re right, sometimes our “grown-up” visitors ask all kinds of questions about it! Thanks for stopping by!