Telephones

[brando_husky]

Speaking of old phones. 


Roommate has gotten two ancient cell phones to work recently. As most know these phones are unable to work on modern cell networks but he has created his own cell network and you can use these around the neighborhood. 


 


The big brick is from 1988 and the smaller one is 1996

 

[madman]

When I was a kid, our apartment from the late '20s - a luxury apartment for the time as it had servant's quarters - had a very small hallway connecting two bedrooms and the bathroom, off of the dining room. In there, was a telephone niche. It was maybe 16" wide, 12" deep, had a table top for the phone to rest on, and a big rectangular cover on the wall beneath the table. I'd imagine the cover once would've been a bell box, or whatever it's called. We did actually have a phone there. But being an inconvenient place to hang around while on the phone, I had put a reproduction candlestick phone there. I still have it. It works, though the rotary dial never worked as long as I've had it. But it looked right at home in its niche.

 

[human]

I have my grandmother's telephone table. It makes a great nightstand in a small bedroom. I had a girlfriend a few years ago who has her grandmother's telephone chair. It was low-slung with a table and storage underneath. Very mid-century kitch, it was covered entirely in black naugahide. It was a little worn and I kept telling her she should have it re-covered in a zebra print just to max out the kitsch factor. Back in the late '90s, I rented a little house, probably built in the '20s, that had a telephone niche in this cramped little back hallway. It still had two cloth-wrapped wires coming out of the wall but as far as I know, it was not active as there was a modular jack on the baseboard in the living room.

GTE (General Telephone) phones were issued by independent phone companies that were not part of the Bell System (aka AT&T), which issued Western Electric phones. In North Carolina at least, most of the former GTE affiliated phone companies went under the United Telephone banner in the '80s and then became part of Sprint in the '90s. After Sprint spun their landline services off a few years ago, it's now called Windstream.

 

[jo]

I worked in the phone industry

Having worked in the phone industry, there were the Baby bells all over the US which were I nicknamed RBOC’s pronounced Are-Bock’s. Short for Regional Bell operating companies. There were also others that were not part of the “Bell System” as the RBOCs were. GTE was a major provider which became Verizon when they decided to rename the company. United Telephone and many other smaller companies served rural areas and smaller cities in the Midwest and western US. Pacific Telephone (Pac-Tel) served major California and Oregon and Washington State cities.

Growing up in New Jersey we had New Jersey Bell and when I was in college my parents s bought a second home on Cape Cod and that was served by New England Telephone, both were RBOC’s.

I think New York Telephone and New England Telephone merged to create NYNEX. But I’d have to study all of these to see. I think New York City was serviced by NYNEX in the 80s and 90’s. There were so many changes during the 80s to 2000s that it’s all a blur to me now because of the deregulation and the AT&T split up that was required.

Jon

 

[vactec2]

Brando_husky

How did your roommate get that phone service to work?

 

[electrolux137]

~
~



I have a couple of old phones. The yellow wall phone is my favorite. Many people had them in their kitchen when I was growing up. I found it in a thrift shop for $2.00. It's in beautiful condition. It's connected to my Ooma land line. You can't place calls from it but it rings on incoming calls and you can talk on it. The bells make a very pleasant sound.


 


Someone gave me the black phone. I've had it for many, many years. Right now it's just sitting on my desk as a decoration. It does work, however.


 


I have to be careful not to go crazy with collecting phones -- same for typewriters and mimeographs.

 

[vacuumlad1650]

Charles Richard, have you considered a pulse-tl-tone converter for your yellow wall phone? It would allow you to dial out on it

 

[gregvacs28]

I like that yellow wall phone.

Can't think of how many times they used that in Alfred Hitchcock presents episodes or other 60s era dramas.

Here's a nicely waxed and polished wall phone, also with modular connections and it has the push button upgrade.

 

[justjunque]

I love the Western Electric phones!
We still maintain landline service, and have several rotary and touch tone phones throughout the house.
I love that Western Electric 554 wall phone too. That phone, but in ivory, was what my parents had in their kitchen. I've picked up a few of that model over the years, in different colors, including ivory. But, the phone currently in use in our kitchen is a yellow Western Electric 2554. It's smaller than the 554, and it's touch tone. If you've ever noticed the kitchen phone on The Golden Girls, that's pretty much it!
Our rotary desk phones are plugged in through Dial Gizmos; a pulse to tone converter, because our service doesn't support pulse dialing.

Barry

 

[gregvacs28]

#19

Second picture of the Motorola was my first official cel phone in 1997. I remember getting it at a Radio Shack store because my new boyfriend had a celphone already. lol.

I was amazed that it only cost me about $29.95 up front but of course I had the infamous 24 month contract. I forget what the monthly fee was and if you had to pay by the minute or if there were charges for long distance.

I actually had a "bag phone" for a short period back around 1989 that I received as part of a promotion when I bought a new Ford Escort.

If I'm remembering correctly, you got to use it for free for 30 days, after that you paid by the minute plus
long distance and
a monthly fee of like $49.
and of course taxes.

I returned it to the Celphone store after about two weeks. I was not going to need it and not going to pay those over the top prices.
I remember when I brought it in the woman was like we just have to check it and make sure it wasn't dropped or got wet. lol. Which it wasn't, she gave me a printed return receipt, but it was funny.

 

[gregvacs28]

Bag phone

This thing was awkward.

You had this black bag with heavy stuff in it.

There was the base, there was the hand set and the cord it attached to the base with,

then you pulled out the corded antennae, opened your window and stuck the antennae on your roof with a suction cup (or some were magnetic....and could scratch the paint if they slid when driving)

then you had the power cord that you plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet

then, if you wanted hands free there was a corded microphone you could pull out and stick on your visor so you could talk while driving.

All perfect for the busy commuting executive, real estate agent, or other "going places" person of the late 80s and 90s.

My parents had the staionary "car phone" version of this installed in their Lincoln Town car and my Dad had one installed in his cherry red 1994 heavy duty Ford F250

Unimaginable today but the 90s it was all about car phones "only $199 for a new Motorola car phone" the radio advertisements would spout.