Growing Old

[LarryK]

3 long rings, 2 shorts was our #, party line.

 

[Basil]

3 long rings, 2 shorts was our #, party line.

So your phone number was 8.

 

[LarryK]

You pressed the button three times holding for seconds then pressed button twice quick. That is how you got your calls. A crank was on some phones which you turned while listening to the rings. Like the church was three quick turns which rang three shorts at the church and the whole town heard the rings for everyone. Party line you listened for how many picked up to listen. Grandma would pick them all up and put the phone down as the ringer to someone else would tell Laura to hang up, not for her. Then she paced as she was missing the gossip.

 

[maynard]

We who had a party line were ahead of our time.

1. Call forwarding-Two longs and a short was my number and I could answer it anywhere on my party.
2. Voice calling- I could pick up the phone and tell the operator who I wanted to talk to, and she would place the call.
3. Voice mail- If I didn't answer, the operator would and take a message.

 

[Basil]

You pressed the button three times holding for seconds then pressed button twice quick. That is how you got your calls. A crank was on some phones which you turned while listening to the rings. Like the church was three quick turns which rang three shorts at the church and the whole town heard the rings for everyone. Party line you listened for how many picked up to listen. Grandma would pick them all up and put the phone down as the ringer to someone else would tell Laura to hang up, not for her. Then she paced as she was missing the gossip.

3 longs and 2 shorts _ _ _ .. = the number "8" in Morse code

 

[LarryK]

Good thing it wasn't three shorts, three longs, three shorts.

 

[John Turney]

Don't remember my childhood phone numbers. It changed every 2 - 3 years while my parents tried to find the perfect place to live.

 

[Gliderman8]

Don't remember my childhood phone numbers. It changed every 2 - 3 years while my parents tried to find the perfect place to live.

My parents never went out on Saturday night because they didn’t want to kiss me goodbye

 

[JPSmit]

Don't remember my childhood phone numbers. It changed every 2 - 3 years while my parents tried to find the perfect place to live.

My parents moved the year I went to University. But I found them

 

[DrEntropy]

My parents moved the year I went to University. But I found them

What? They didn't change the locks?

 

[JPSmit]

What? They didn't change the locks?

Absolutely - a completely different province but I sleuthed them out.

 

[Bayless]

Oldest phone number I remember was 83091. Funny thing, there were 3 kids and every time one of us grew up and left home they bought a bigger house.

 

[Basil]

Oldest phone number I remember was 83091. Funny thing, there were 3 kids and every time one of us grew up and left home they bought a bigger house.

The kids bought a bigger house? Or do you mean your parents bought a bigger house?

 

[LarryK]

To me the parents bought a bigger house in case siblings moved back in with their families.

 

[bobhustead]

About these old numbers that we used daily, I recall phone numbers (probably all of them from my lifetime) and school locker combinations. Understandable. But why do I know my draft card number and my D/L number?
Bob

 

[Bayless]

To me the parents bought a bigger house in case siblings moved back in with their families.

Not likely Larry. As I recall, they didn't tell us where they moved. Sorry Basil, I should have been more clear. I did mean the parent bought a bigger house.

 

[DrEntropy]

About these old numbers that we used daily, I recall phone numbers (probably all of them from my lifetime) and school locker combinations. Understandable. But why do I know my draft card number and my D/L number?
Bob

OCD p'raps?

Actually, the old 'phone numbers, numbers of friends and relatives, alpha-numeric passwords for clients' servers/routers, serial numbers of my Lotus cars, etc. are still in my memory. But never saw a need to memorize D/L or draft card.

 

[DrEntropy]

...but now in my dotage I find as I talk to myself, the answers I've returned are ridiculous even to me.