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Archiver > APG > 2008-02 > 1204153928


From: "Cheryl Rothwell" <>
Subject: Re: [APG] Party lines
Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:12:08 -0600
References: <000f01c8798c$b30a7b10$650a0a0a@MikeVaughn>
In-Reply-To: <000f01c8798c$b30a7b10$650a0a0a@MikeVaughn>


My number was one long, two shorts. Everyone knew everyone's business. That
wasn't ALWAYS a bad thing although I thought it was most of the time.

Cheryl

On Wed, Feb 27, 2008 at 4:04 PM, Mike Vaughn <>
wrote:

> Does anyone remember the days before telephone numbers or even before
> operators connected the calls -- when receiving a phone call was signaled by
> a series of rings -- longs and shorts, i.e., your number might be 2 longs
> and 1 short.
>
> As strange as it may seem that practice was still employed in many rural
> areas even into the 1950's.
>
> And they were the original party line -- everyone in the community was on
> the same line. When one phone rang they all rang, and it was common to hear
> other phones being picked up so that neighbors could listen in on
> conversations. Maybe the luxury of having a telephone at all outweighed the
> lack of any privacy -- and maybe it made no difference since everyone in the
> small communities know everyone else's business anyway.
>
> Mike Vaughn
>
>
>
>
>
> .
>
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