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Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
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Chuck Hinman: IJMA. Ever Read A Telephone Book Chuck Hinman: Ever Read A Telephone Book Chuck gives insight into rural telephone party lines in the 1930s when phones were four feet tall and neighbors listened in. Next earlier Chuck Hinman column - It's A Jungle Out There! By Chuck Hinman Ever Read A Telephone Book Have you read any good telephone books lately? I grew up on a farm near Liberty, Gage County, in southeast Nebraska. It was in the 1930s, seventy some years ago. Even though those years were spent in an economically depressed time, our large two-story farm home was relatively new and nicer than most houses in town. Dad was a nut about buying and trying the newest thing on the market. He should have been a test engineer. We were the first in the area to have a Jacobs brand electric washing machine. A telephone four feet high and a foot wide When rural telephone lines were strung, we had a tall wall-telephone which seemed designed for installation in the centrally located hall of our house. You had to go through that room to get anywhere, including the second floor. The telephone was about four foot high and one foot wide. It had a little winder dealy on the side that produced bell sounds by which you could call people sharing your party line. Or you could summon "central" to assist you with all other calls including long-distance calls. We were a part of the Liberty Bell Telephone system. The telephone book consisted of five pages showing names and telephone numbers. Telephone book for bathroom reading Our family chided Mom because every time she went to the bathroom, she would grab the phone book for reading material! You might wonder "What on earth could she possibly find to read in the telephone book?" Well, I'll tell you. Mom became an expert analyzing a family's telephone number. She became adept at telling who neighbors were even though she did not know these people personally. She was the "go-to person" if you wanted to know where somebody lived. An infringement of privacy? What? A telephone book? Perhaps, but what mind-improving thing do you do when you go to the bathroom? And imagine the countless hours she spent honing this skill. No wonder she was an expert! Miss a detail in conversation? Just call neighbor Oh, yes, our telephone number was 420, and unless you had to go through the operator, Annie Fellers, who supposedly could, and did, listen to any conversation of her choosing, you reached the Hinman family telephone by ringing two short rings .. .. Hello! If you missed an important detail in any conversation, all was not lost. You just rang two shorts and a long (ring) and asked our good neighbor -- Allie Dillow -- for the information you missed. Party lines are not all that bad! It was high-tech communication in its hey-day and I was there... Written by Chuck Hinman, from an email on 10 November 2009 but probably written earlier. This story was posted on 2013-02-24 00:04:58
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Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Chuck Hinman - Reminiscences:
Chuck Hinman : It's A Jungle Out There Chuck Hinman: IJMA. Long Johns Weather In Nebraska Chuck Hinman: IJMA. The Ever Burning Light Of Love Chuck Hinman: IJMA. Predicament in Tulsa Chuck Hinman: Reflections On A Happy Birthday Chuck Hinman: Matchmakers for Chuck and Connie Chuck Hinman: Picture It! Chuck Hinman: Snow ice cream Chuck Hinman: This House is Santa Claus Unfriendly Chuck Hinman: Christmas memories from my show biz days View even more articles in topic Chuck Hinman - Reminiscences |
 
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