Ancient Forum's Picture the Poster

Some of us are in that unfortunate position of understanding that hair never acutally goes away, it just moves.

Ears, back, etc!

 

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(Sorry - see next post.)

 

I remember them well. Before we had that 'phone, we had one on the wall that we used to turn the handle to call the operator.
We had a 'party line' in those days, and (in theory), you could have up to 26 'subscribers' on the same line. Our line was 1080 and our 'call sign' (morse code) was 'G' (Dah, Dah, Dit, - Long, Long, Short.) When we heard that, we knew the call was for us so we answered the 'phone.
If we wanted to make a call we had to lift the handset and listen. If we could hear a conversation in progress, we had to hang the handset up and wait our turn. Of course, there were those (who shared the line), who didn't hang up and amused themselves by listening in to other peoples conversations, (including the operator).
Also, in those days, 'phones were (relatively) expensive and not everyone had one, so the neighbours were often 'popping in' to use the 'phone. Often, we would receive calls for them and my parents would send me next door, or up the street to get a neighbour to take a call.
Times were different then.

 

Yup, same for me growing up. We were in farmland, so it was not "up the street" to get a neighbor, but a hike across the fields to get to them!

 

Wow, your daughter takes great pics. I was always amazed / inspired by your Napoleon pic...very creative! (and cool pic of you playing cards!)

 

I'm just old enough to remember the end of the party line. I also remember that we had to lease our phone from the phone company (seemingly few could afford to buy them outright). How many people remember what 'long distance' was? Or how incredibly expensive it was? I think the last time I dialed a number and got an 'all circuits are busy' message was back in the 80's. Times have changed. And quickly!

 

Gadzooks!

I had a similar thing happen a couple of months ago. Meant to trim my mustache a little, but didn't pay attention to the razor. I hadn't put the guard on, so one half fell into the sink when I ran it across. Geezz.....

 

Recent image from our trip to Belgium. The city is Namur and the Citadel is approximately 1000 years old.


Just in case you're wondering, I'm the little chubby fella on the left.

 

Awesome! Two pillars of the rare coin community.

 

Anyone remember using these?

I used to assist my father, who was a great tinkerer, in repairing and modifying radios belonging to friends and relatives during the late 1930s and 1940s. I also built my own crystal radios.


North Brothers Ad, 1925

 

Looking very sharp there @Bing!

 

I wonder who this good looking fella is . A quick pic from work with my daughter's artwork in the back. BTW, forget about wired phones, how about a rotary phone! Those were the days and with a nice modem to connect at 300bps...

 

Well, lol, when you talk about party lines and long distance...they were just phones. When push-button phones came along, THEN you called them rotary phones. Rotary phones were just ‘phones’ when I was growing up.

 

Yes, that was true. We had rotary phones when I was growing up and it wasn't until much later that the push-button phones came around. I also remember the cost of long distance and remember my mom telling me to never accept collect calls from anybody who called from long distance!!

Younglings have it made these days. BTW, the artwork was done when my daughter was about 8 years old. Now she is in her 3rd year in college

 

Me trying to look like Bing.....

 

Love the stash. Should probably grow it again one of these days. Clean shaven for the past 15 years...

 

It was actually brown with about 1/2" of ice built up on it and eyebrows.

 

I sure do remember the 'Crystal Radios'.
I used to go to the "War Surplus" shops to buy the parts (no Radio Shack in those days), and I used to build sets for all the kids in the neighbourhood.
I used to build them in 'soap boxes' and I would hook up one half of a (de-constructed) military headset to it so that it would fit into the pillow case, and not be seen by the parents.
Each Sunday morning (sorry Deacon Ray) there was a radio show that played all of those Hopalong Cassidy serials, and the like. We would wake up to listen to them on our Crystal Sets. No T.V. in those days and the 'Radio' was a cabinet piece in the 'lounge-room' where we were not permitted unless we had guests, so the use of it was firmly controlled by Father.

Me (and the unlucky Lady)

My wife only has one 'flaw'. Her taste in men.

 

Great stuff, @Topcat7 - thanks for posting that information.