A question for everybody........

[warthog]

How many here remember the old party line phones???They were so much fun when i was younger.Listening in,making rude noises,.....How about them crank phone calls???? Is your refrigerator running?? Do you have Prince Albert in the can???SO MANY GOOD MEMORIES......Unfortunately,we almost lost our phone service,because of me....THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS,ELIMINATED FOREVER BY CELL PHONES AND CALLER I.D. ..........

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

a divorced lady with 3 children were on the party line with us and were on the phone a lot keeping us from using ours or if we were using it....the kids would throw rocks at our house, for they lived in an apartment building close to our home! Good ole days for sure! And I must say you were a very naughty boy for abusing phone privileges....but boys will be boys as they say! Ma

 

[Steve O]

I remember not having a phone. When we finally got one, it was black, big and heavy, with a straight chord. I do remember the party line. The lady sounded like she smoked five packs of ciggs a day.
I was a bit scared of my dad as a kid, so obeying him was always in the forefront......no using the phone unless you asked for permission, and certainly, no funny stuff with it.
Those words "wait till your father gets home".....OMG.....talk about child stress. Back then the neighbors would be like parents to all the kids in the neighborhood...if you did something wrong, dad found out !!(((Yikes)))!!

I have to say, we had a blast growing up. Out early and home for dinner...adventure all day long.

 

[C.J.M.]

old times were rough,no welfare or free cell-phones.

 

[warthog]

n/t

 

[Steve O]

Ha, the Woolworth menu... I remember they had balloons clipped to umbrellas over the food counter. If you wanted a banana split, you pick a balloon, they would pop it. The balloon had little pieces of paper with 1 to 35 cents written on them...if you were lucky, you got a banana split for 1 penny. Of course, I had to save my quarter a week chore allowance to be able to participate.

 

[Sandtick]

I'm only in my mid forties so my memories are: gas for .57 cents, shopping at Montgomery Wards for there going out of business sale, actually bringing old T.V tubes to radio shack to test (that store has changed). Also getting that huge Christmas catalog from Sears and spending hour after hour daydreaming about all the "stuff" in there. They had go-carts, fishing boats, toys galore and other sections I would stare at.
I wonder what my kids will remember with nostalgic enthusiasm.

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

Gee, guess I wasn't the only one who had a strict father, whom you had better mind or else! Never had a phone on the farm, my first one was when my first two children were small and we had the party line in the 60's! Ma

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

When kids on the farm, we always looked forward to receiving the Sears Roebuck Catalog in the mail and also dream and wish over all the things advertised on the pages within and then used in the outhouse for toilet paper....kinda rough or slick but we used it! Sounds disgusting I know but times were difficult without the money to buy the better stuff as poor farmers! :sad: Ma

 

[warthog]

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[Ma Betty in MO]

Yes and leaves but neither one were good for using for you know what but better than nothing when needed! Ma

 

[C. Nyal de Kaye]

To my best knowledge we did not have party phone lines in Australia.

I started work in 1953 at 15 years old. On my first day at work the office phone rang and the boss asked me to answer it.

I had never been on the phone and simply did not know what to do.

How things change.

 

[dirtdigginlady]

I remember that too MA and I also remember that us girls would NOT use the boy or men pages. We thought that was just terrible so I guess we left the men's clothing pages for the men lol. How funny that we thought like that.

 

[warthog]

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[Sandtick]

A little off topic but I think if Sears went back to some sort of electronic catalog or a stronger internet presents, like Amazon, they could survive. It is sad seeing how Sears and Kmart are just about gone. Especially since I spent my teens working at Sears.

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

My sister-in-law works for Sears in their ST. Louis south County Store and it depends on the management whether the stores do well....this day and time no one wants to work but only want a paycheck! Wanda is a very good worker and has been with them for many years...she is in her 60's and keeps going and does a good job! Difficult to have good managers and workers, most of the young don't know how to work or just won't! The same in most businesses now....so hard to get a job and keep it for those who do want to work and do a good job!! Ma

 

[Ma Betty in MO]

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