The other day I was talking with my aunt who is in her 80’s. \u00a0She is very spry, goes to fitness classes and very active physically and mentally. \u00a0We were talking about calling someone and I told her the call went straight to voice mail and that maybe the person was on the line. \u00a0She then said to me, “Wouldn’t that give you a busy signal then?” \u00a0 When she said that I was so surprised, “busy signal” when is the last time I had heard one of those?<\/p>\n

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I laughed and told her no, that it would just go to voice mail and even wondered if the busy signal still existed. \u00a0It made me think and since my uncle and her and my family both had vacation homes on the same lake, it made me think back to a time when I was super young and on the lake people had party lines. Can you even imagine?<\/p>\n

Our party line was with my Aunt and Uncle and for those that don’t know; a party line is a phone line that people share. \u00a0They were very popular in vacation areas and one household had a regular ring and the other a variation. \u00a0We had the regular ring and my Aunt and Uncle had the 2 short rings. \u00a0When I think about it now it seems surreal. \u00a0Can you imagine? \u00a0I remember listening for the phone and \u00a0either saying it was ours or theirs. \u00a0You also had to be careful when you picked up to dial out because the other family may be using the phone. \u00a0I remember stories from other \u00a0kids on the lake who were on party lines with \u00a0unrelated families proudly recanting conversations they eavesdropped on.<\/p>\n

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We had moved to a private line by the time I was probably 5 so I do not have that many memories but when I think of it today, I cringe. \u00a0What if you were on a party line with someone who received incessant calls at all hours of the night, or that used the phone all time so you could never call out or get calls in?<\/p>\n

My kids know nothing of party lines and would probably think I was out of my mind if I told them how it worked. \u00a0How times have changed! \u00a0Speaking of busy signals, do you remember how you could click the little disconnect buttons three times to reach an operator? \u00a0Do you remember how the operator could ring a phone that was off the hook if say a small child was monkeying around with it? Also, how when you reached a number that was busy for so long and you would call the operator to interrupt the line because it was say your home line and you knew a younger sibling was using the phone or your mom doing it to you when she was trying to call home. \u00a0The operator would click into the line and say, “I have so and so on the line and they say it is an emergency will you give up the line?” \u00a0Ah good times!<\/p>\n

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The Rotary Dial was another time saver, NOT! \u00a0Ever try to call in on a radio station contest with one of those? \u00a0Then when they had the push buttons with pulse mode you still had to wait but you could push a button. \u00a0No auto redial and redialing on the rotary dial really gave those fingers that do the walking a workout! \u00a0Speaking of letting your fingers do the walking, remember the bit phone books that doubled as booster seats? \u00a0Do you even use a phone book now? \u00a0I can’t even imagine. \u00a0Phones and technology have truly come a long way baby!<\/p>\n

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