You Know You Are Old When

[Williy]

Had used these on the farm back in the 50's powered by a car battery

willy

 

[masseyrider]

She mustn't have known you could unscrew the mouthpiece and take the microphone element out, so there would be no background noise to give her away.
Don't ask how I came to know this little party line secret.

We would have missed out on a lot of fun messing with her.
Old biddy also had a good time talking about the neighborhood scurge with her church group and anybody that would listen.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Growing up we were on a party line, in-laws on a party line until the early 80s. Wife & I would hear someone pick up and I'd say something like "I sure hope no one finds the body we put in the 7-11 dumpster Maple St.
Their old heavy bakelite (?) phone they were still paying rent on. I called the phone company and they said just keep it. Rent was 90c s month...but they paid about $700 for it since early 30s.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Years ago rotary phones worked by simple switch contacts, so dialing a 3 contacts open & close 3 times. A business close to home had an outdoor phone with no dial. As a kid I could call friends by tapping it 8-5-1...etc.
Most places later even today have an outdoor service box with a test jumper inside where you can plug in a phone.

 

[masscity]

When I was a kid most farmers and others would cut and peel Poplar trees in the spring to make extra money for the family. We used to do 3 or 4 carloads each spring. Train car load is 40'x8'x8'. One stick was 8' long, most Poplar trees up here are 4 or 5 sticks long.

The bark had to be peeled off, much later they used high pressure water and now, I'm not sure, but I think they grind it up and maybe with chemicals get the bark away.

Of course at the stump it could be 1' to 2' and at the tip 4". As a peeler I got .03 cents per stick, but some years later got a raise to .05 cent per stick. I don't know how old I was when I started, maybe 9-10 years old and the last time I was 17.

When I was 16-17 years old I could peel 200 sticks a day in 7.5 hours, which is $10.00 a day. The bad part of this job was the mosquitoes and no-see-ums. They would eat you alive, there was nothing you could do, except work like crazy and do your best to ignore them.

 

[ultrarunner]

Years ago rotary phones worked by simple switch contacts, so dialing a 3 contacts open & close 3 times. A business close to home had an outdoor phone with no dial. As a kid I could call friends by tapping it 8-5-1...etc.
Most places later even today have an outdoor service box with a test jumper inside where you can plug in a phone.

I still use a rotary phone but it's hard to press 1 for English!

 

[scootr]

I remember the first speed dialing... we forced the rotary dial back after each number to hurry up the dialing process. lol

 

[stuckmotor]

You remember the phrase, "Don't trust anyone over 30", and realize the person credited with coining it is now 84 years old.

 

[MoKelly]

You remember the phrase, "Don't trust anyone over 30", and realize the person credited with coining it is now 84 years old.

That is an interesting piece of info.

 

[garry1p]

During WWII we used to go around hunting up scrap iron and selling it to the local junk man, 1 cent per pound. You would be surprised what all you could buy for a few pennies back then.