My wife and I made one of our semi-annual pilgrimages to Bisbee this weekend with the editor of my new book and his wife. He and I worked very hard to finish the book in time for a pre-Christmas introduction, and I figured we all needed a break. We had a great time. I'll probably post some artsy pics I took later, but I wanted to share this one with you first. This was part of a display in the mining museum. They wanted to feature old-time stuff to see if it could be recognized today. This one floored me!



I'm feeling very ancient right now because of this. Are there actually people so newly minted that they have never seen, handled or operated a dial telephone? Good grief!

Not only can I "dial" a phone (that's what the word dial implies, don't you think), but I can drive a stick shift and properly employ a single action revolver!

Actually, Bisbee is a pretty advanced burg. Here is their new social networking system that they feel is far superior to the internet. I think one of those long-haired stoners figured it out all on his own:



I think I'll fix myself a relaxing Manhattan. I can still do that, too.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

An old period correct joke from then...

"Can I use your Dictaphone"

"Sure, but don't you think your finger works better?"

Pretty funny! Thinking about it though,I bet my 23 year old daughter has never seen one and her 30 year old brother? Who knows
They do know how to drive a stick lol

I keep hearing about how people, nowadays, not only don't know HOW to use that phone, but would not recognize it as a phone.

That blows my mind.

I have never used (or even SEEN in real life) one of those boxes on the wall, where you hold the earpiece to your ear, turn the crank on the side, and YELL, "Hello Central? Get me 628 please."

But you know? I know how they work. Why? I've seen them in movies and TV shows. Surely the latest generation has seen someone use a dial telephone on some TV show or other.

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I always take precautions

Having a 15 year old son that says I'm a fossil at 59 I watch TV and listen to music and how 'quaint' it must seem to the young crowd.

Dial and pay phones are one example. What were telephones when you had to talk to the operator and put money in the slot for three more minutes? I was listening to some old 60's and '70s music with the screaming Hammond B3 organ and a lot of early electronics and thought that it sounded like the Boston Pops alongside the 'music' he listens to. Guitars are not prominent like they were. Now on TV hippies look as weird as Flappers did when I was growing up. It is strange getting old.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

I'm in my 20's and we had one of those phones in the house growing up. I loved it, guess it reminded me of shows I watched like Roy Rodger and Adam-12.

Sorry can't run a single action properly but I drive stick!

The 30 year old remembers using a rotary wall phone in our kitchen when he was little,but the 23 year old has never dialed a phone.Im feeling old now

I still have a tan rotary phone sitting in front of me on my computer desk and it works.

I also have been shifting since 1973 up to this date.
Some of the cult following BMW drivers believe it isn't a BMW if it has a auto trans in it.

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

Gosh; This brought back the memories. I went to work for Ma Bell in 1950. The phone pictured here is a 500 type made by Western Electric. Earlier one were 300 series. All are obsolete now but work just fine if you can find one. I had a dial wall phone in the barn in California, the neighbor kids asked what it was & how could you call out on it. Made me feel obsolete too.

AT&T, purchased at a Flea market for $5.00 about 4 years ago.
Excellent condition, just had to plug it in.

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

I have one of those hanging on the wall in my shop, and it works fine! I have one problem with it, I can't figure out how to "Press one for English, Press two for Spanish"! Well, maybe that isn't a problem after all, I can't speak Spanish anyway!
jcelect

Try showing anyone under twenty-five a manual typewriter or adding machine. Or a slide rule.

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Oh well, what the hell.

I'm not too good wih a single action; haven't shot one enough. But I sure can drive a stick shift, and didn't do too bad with a couple of crash boxes (no synchromesh); one of them even had the gear shift placed for the left hand. 'Heel and toe' as you downshift gets interesting.

One of the advantages of driving a "stick shift" vehicle these days is, it will give you the satisfaction that it most likely won't get stolen, because the punks don't know how to drive it.

I'd like to find one of those old Candle Stick phones, and see if it would still work if plugged into the wall..

Shouldazagged, I do still have my ole manual typewriter. I still use it especially around Christmas time to address cards. My handwriting is so bad anymore. I better use it so the postman knows where it's supposed to go, instead of back to me!!!!


WuzzFuzz

It's called the generation gap folks. There are things from our parents era that we never got to experience. Just like there are things from our era our kids never got to experience. There will also be things from current times that our grandchildren will never experience.

Class of 2018 has always known Bill Gates as the richest man in the country.
# to them this symbol on a phone is NOT referred to as a pound sign it's a hashtag.

So yes there are many things from generation to generation that are "weird" to one but normal to the other

I can dial a rotary phone had um for yrs even with party line.
I can also drive a stick in fact I'll base driving one today when I head to work in my Mustang.

Both of my cars have manual transmission............ discovered a side benefit last year.......my 16 year old had to learn to drive on the mini-van!

LOL

Growing up, I spent my summers on a lake in KY. I remember having a "party" line where you had to pick up the receiver and listen to see if anyone was talking before you dialed, and everyone (about 20 customers) had a distinctive ring.

I not only collect phones, I use them every day in my home. I've got all authentic vintage phones including a Candle Stick from 1905, a Cradle Phone from 1934, and a bunch from between 1950 and 1970 that still amaze the kids that visit and try them.

The ONLY portable phone I have is the one that I take outside by the pool and all the rest are hard wired. At last count I had 15 phone hooked up...........

And YES I can still drive a stick shift automobile. Still have a few Typewriters, and collect (and use ) many GE vintage fans even though our home has Central Air.

My grandmother had a party line into the early to mid '60s. She told me about having the handcranked wall phone. Their number was two longs and a short.

My daily driver is a 5 speed Isuzu pick-up. Gets up to 30 MPG, even with all the junk in the back.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

Ahh the party line. Americas first social media. Early Twitter.

Ain't no 11 on that dial, might be tough in an emergency !!

We had a rotary phone in the 90s. I hated that thing! Lol! All that waiting for it to go ALL the way back with every turn.

My dad took my daughter to run an errand a while back. Its brutally hot outside.. She hops in the passenger seat, and he tells her to roll down the window till it cools off.. She fumbles around, and looked at him with a "lost look" in her eye.. Seems she has never been in a vehicle with manual windows, and didn't know how to roll down windows without a button Also, she had never seen a truck with the little "vent" window either.

Except for Physics grad students. When I was in grad school
('96-'98), all the grad students still had pocket protectors and slide rules (along with "Afros" and ponytails!).

I remember "party lines" where, if you really wanted to save money, you could have as many as three others using the same phone line as yours. You could politely ask them to cut their conversation when you really needed to make a call. Some people had a distinctive ring as well. Two rings meant the call was yours, one ring might be for the other person on your line.. The original cords were also NOT coiled and stretchy like the one in the picture. When they went to the coiled cords, you could get an extra long cord so you could actually move away from the phone if you had to. The cords would also get all kinked up to the point where they could not be fixed any more. Another little known fact was that you could actually "dial" the phone by using the push buttons under the headset. Some phones had a lock placed on the dial so it couldn't be turned. There was one place I saw this and, for a small fee, they would remove the lock so you could make a call. If you wanted to cheat and make a free call all you really had to do was "dial" the number by quickly pressing the button down the right number of times.

Bought a Landcruiser (last year the "real" ones were brought in==1983). Ex-wife asked how to open the vent. Told her you just kick it! It's the little window/door on the wall near the floor.

I was exploring Oahu with a colleague, and on the opposite side of the is. where the shrimp farms are, there was an antique shop.

There were two 1940's Bakelite rotary phones, one in pretty poor condition and one in fair condition.

I was so excited because my grandparents, from Admire KS (a tiny water station for the old steam trains which is now even more tiny since the trains went to that new-fangled diesel and diesel-electric) carried with them a couple of phones like these when they moved to MD when grandpa got a job at the Wall St. Journal's Washington bureau.

I grew up weekends dialing home on that phone, and talking to my great grandmother back in Admire on it.

So, I was keen to get the one in the store that was in decent shape. I held it up and asked "how much" to the owner. He said "$200", I about dropped the phone!

I suppose he hadn't heard of the inner-webs and EBay..... I whipped out my phone and showed him several to be had just like his, in better shape, from 80-100 bucks.

He goes "200 bucks".

So I got one online. I dig it.

Vintage radio collector checking in.

Just want to say "I am proud of you".

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

A friend's daughter found his LP collection in the basement and said "Gee dad, these are the biggest CDs I've ever seen!"

My own dad laughed at me when I asked in the '60s what the tin box was hanging on the wall above the wood burning stove in our river clubhouse.

As far as cars go, I can't remember when the little vent windows in the front were discontinued. You could just push them open and they would suck the hot air, cigarette smoke or whatever, right out of the car. Of course, back then, air conditioning was more a luxury and many cars didn't even offer it as an option. Remember the high beam switch on the floor? If you wanted to go real cheap, you could buy a car with a stick shift on the column, no carpeting, no radio, no extras at all. To lock cars you had to make sure all the buttons were manually pushed down and then you usually had to hold the outside handle while you shut the door. I guess that was to make you think about whether or not you left your keys inside.

Yup, time marches on.
As far as I'm concerned there's too much technology being integrated into everyday devices.
I miss the days before power steering, brakes, windows, door locks and computer controlled electronic everything.
My truck's a base model 2009 4wd Tacoma with a manual transmission, door locks and windows. It has a little dial on the dash to shift the transfer case instead of a proper shift lever, not too fond of that but that's how they do it now.

My first car was a '75 Toyota Corolla SR5. Manual transmission, steering and brakes. Carburetor and dual point distributor. I never use A/C so I just had it removed. I miss that car.
I've always had manual transmissions. My wife can drive a stick but she's happy with her little dinky '08 Toyota Yaris. It has an automatic transmission and still gets up to 40mpg.

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Keep on Chooglin'

How about named exchanges in the number. We were Edison 8-then the four digit number when I was growing up and it was a party line. Heavy black boat anchor of a phone, no springy coiled cord either.

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Back to back World War Champs.

My house is a 105 year old acreage. On the wall in the basement is a rotary phone that is still hooked up and works fine. I took all three of my kids down and asked them to make a call on it. None of 'em could. When I showed them how, my son wanted to dial the area code first, since that's what he has to do on his cell phone.

And yeah, I can drive a stick. Don't have a (running) one right now, but my next purchase is gonna have a clutch.
Jim

As an Army contract Helicopter Instructor, I actually had a young Lt.ask me where the clock was on the instrument panel. He looked real puzzled and said he didn't know how to use it.He had only ever used a digital clock and couldn't tell time on a regular clock.I wouldn't embarrass a New England School for Boys on the Hudson by saying where this young man graduated with from, with honors! Nick

Show him a REAL analog watch and tell him that when Mickey's little hand is on the 4, his big hand is on the 12, and the sun is in the sky, it's 1600 hours.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

If you dialed a phone number with a lot of 8s, 9s and 0s you had to be a little patient. I remember a few times 'helping' the dial return to its start position.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

After the novelty wore off digital watches I loath them. You read one and you have a number like 9:47 and I have to think, ok that's 13 minutes til 10:00. With analog hands I don't have to do that second step because I can see right away how time there is until 10:00.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Not only do I remember rotary phones, I have two of 'em in the house.
Not only can I drive a stick shift, I can drive anything from a "three on the tree" to a 13 speed Road Ranger with Deep Reduction.
I still have some LPs, cassette tapes and 8-Tracks around here. Watched a movie on VHS a few days ago too.

But to be honest, these new smart phones confuse the hell outta me.

Even people who know how to drive a stick do a "double take" when seeing this. (my 1947 Jeep)

Attached Images

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Minimize the variables

So, what's that ringing noise it keeps making? By the time I find the key, and open the box, it stops.

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Why, I aughta.....

1/2/3/4 gears 4lo 4hi and I think the other is transfer case engagement.
Been a while since seen one.

Love that call box! Where did you find it?

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Oh well, what the hell.

Close, the far left is the standard 3 speed transmission, next is the mechanical overdrive, next high and low 4wheel drive and the far right is 2WD/4WD

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Minimize the variables

I was in high-school when we got dial phones and thought them a great improvement over having to talk to the local operator. I learned to drive on a '53 Willys station-wagon and still drive a stick-shift Jeep, a '12 Wrangler. I don't own a working digital watch, even the clock on my Android phone has an analog face.

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Rick, W0FG
CTR2 68-72

My 15 year old son is about to learn how to drive a stick shift in my lifted 1979 gmc 1/2 ton 4x4. He loves the sound of the engine. He is in for a treat. I probably am too.Did I mention that it has no A/C too.

New I was close. Dad had a couple jeeps like that when I was about 5/6 which was 45plus yrs ago last time I saw one in person

My parents had a party line in the early 80's out in the country. Our old house phone in the 60's (yes only one for the whole house) was in a shelf in the hall and looked similar to the OP's photo but was black, and instead of the clear plastic dial it was a black steel dial. You could here it ring a half block away.

I totally remember dial telephones, I even had a Princess phone, back in the day.

Paladin: Manhattan's are my cocktail of choice with either Bulleit or Four Roses Bourbon...Just Perfect!

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S&W Girl, for sure.

352-G if that gives you a hint.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

It was 2002 or 2003 when I removed the last one from service at work.