My family always had a phone, there has not been any time in my life without one. Same for all my relatives and childhood friends. We had only one phone in the original house, a black wall-mounted specimen. The second house had an extension in the MBR, the parents added another in the sister's bedroom, and dad had one in the added garage/workshop. The teleco in my birth-town has always been privately-owned. Only four-digit local dialing was required for many years. Mom still would have the same landline number if she hadn't canceled the landline three months ago (Dec 2025).

Sushipup, large metro areas used 1 or maybe 2, but not 0. It took too long for 0 to to twirl around. When our suburban 312 changed to 708, there was an uproar! Especially in my family because our exchange started with 9, and all our family’s numbers had plenty of 8s and 9s.

Our number used to belong to a business that had mall kiosks. The owner had the same first name as me! It was very confusing for awhile. Once I figured it out, I found their number and would give it out. Then I quit doing that. Sometimes it was business acquaintances, or vendors, or taxing bodies. Eventually they stopped, but I did get the first one in years just recently. Once your number gets in a database somewhere, it is there for a long long time!

Sushipup, large metro areas used 1 or maybe 2, but not 0.

Denver (whole state) was 303, Memphis half the state) was 901, San Jose was 408.

I'd almost forgotten about that dial yourself trick vgkg mentions 😄

And prank calls - kind of hard to do that today when every phone has caller ID.

Thinking about one of the lessons we did in first grade, we had to fill out a worksheet with our home addresses and phone numbers and memorize them. Kids today often do not know their parents' phone numbers - I think possibly because people often change their phones, and numbers along with them - hardly anybody has a home landline these days.

When we finally got rid of our landline phone, I ported the number to one of our mobile phones - it had been the same one forever - the house had been my grandpa's.

Oh and I believe those first 3 digits after the area code were known as the exchange.

"kind of hard to do that today when every phone has caller ID"

Pushing *67 first removes caller ID from the call

"those first 3 digits after the area code were known as the exchange"

I believe it was just the first two.

My childhood phone started with AXminster. I do remember when ATT was split up because I had a little bit of ATT stock and ended up with a few shares in each of the baby Bells, as they were known back then.

I thought the exchange was the first three aftrr,the area code?

Does anyone remember the ”dial a tune” music books when the push-button phones came out? If you dialed the tunes and were not already connected to a number, you could have one hefty phone bill!

sushipup, when the area codes were created early, early, on, Colorado was not as populated as it is now, and telephones were not as prevalent in some states as in major metropolitan areas, especially regarding business numbers. But now that we press buttons instead of dialing, it doesn’t matter.

" Beechwood 45789? " how about

8675309?

I dare anyone to say those numbers and not start singing........

Growing up we had the same number Alpine1-**** for over 20 years. Parents retired and month later I was at work talking to a client on the phone. I asked his number and he recited Alpine1-****. I think I screamed into the phone. He had just moved into town and inherited *my* number.

Anyone remember tele-tapes from the 1980s? (I think that was what they were called.) There was a list of topics in the phonebook and you called a phone number and a tape recording would play for the particular topic you wanted. I just remember my friend and I calling about tapeworms because we didn't know what they were.

Our phone number prefix back in the day was Thornwall. I remember party lines, although I don’t think we had one ourselves. My dad was a doctor and had his own phone, which we were not allowed to answer. remember calling a certain number to get the correct time. I remember calling the operator to get someone’s number. I remember princess phones; I think I got one when I was 16, and had my own phone in my room- now I’m remembering that song in Bye-Bye Birdie with Ann-Margret!

Singing along--"And my number is Beechwood 45789/ You can call me up for a date/ any old time."

I remember our phone number in the 40s, first it began with Bergen, then Henderson, but the numbers remained the same.

And just to add, re Luddites. I have a landline. And I'm the last person on earth without a cell phone.

Just sayin'.

My mother could not abide the 'ringing' sound the phone made when someone was calling, so we had one that went 'ding dong'. There was a switch underneath the phone that allowed us to change it back to the ringing should we prefer. I remember babysitters being baffled by the sound and not believing me when I told them it was the phone ringing. This was in the late 60s so of course it was avocado green and it was a push button, quite a luxury compared to my girlfriend's black rotary phone.

An aunt/uncle in a rural area had a party landline into the 1970s. I don't know if/when it may have been changed to a private line. The landline number is in my cell so she hasn't directly advised it has been discontinued. I haven't called it in some years. I always call (or text) to her cell.

We still have a land line. It would cost $ to "unbundle" it from the cell phone/computer/TV plan that we have. And actually, there are times when prefer it.

"We still have a land line. It would cost $ to "unbundle" it from the cell phone/computer/TV plan that we have. And actually, there are times when prefer it."

Me too; it's bundled in with the cable and internet service. My cell phones are a different company, though, by choice. If service goes down from one company, I at least have service from the other.

@porkchop_z5b_MI...yeah. Mine are different too.

As for the bundling of internet/cable/landline..... We saved no money when we dropped the landline (didn't even have a phone plugged in), but we did save when we dropped cable and got a Firestick and YouTube TV, and now just get internet service. I'm paying a lot less. About $165 vs the old cable+internet bill of $255.

Mom's teleco is also the ISP. Landline and Internet are itemized as separate services on the bill. It reduced accordingly when the landline was dropped. The monthly bill is $80.83 for lowest-level service, which is plenty for the needs even with sis and SIL working remotely. Customers are required to rent a moderm/router from the teleco, cannot have their own (other than adding an Eero or other extender for more WiFi coverage). The teleco updated the entire town to fiber optic several years ago.

Our landline is bundled with our internet service. We got updated to fiberoptics last year. However when the internet goes out as it did during our major flooding in December the landline went out as well. Three weeks maybe? Cell service used to be dicy and mixy for years. It seems to be better now but if I am going to make a long call I still prefer the landline as it doesnt go haywire if you touch anything. DH is in the process of setting up a new Cell phone and I dread the break-in period when I have no idea how to answer it.

FWIW, I learned that, here @ least, Verizon's 'landlines' are not actually wired, so there goes any chance of reliability in a disaster situation. That's the reason we closed our account after so many years.

I often feel like I use my cell phone less as a phone, and more of a source of information and entertainment! What’s the weather, what’s happening around town, what’s the traffic, make a purchase, play a game. And I’m more likely to text than call someone. Whoever woulda thunk it?

There have been some comments that seem to show some are not fully informed about "telephone" services and how they work. .

Traditional “landlines” are known in the industry as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). They use analog signals over copper wires for the “last mile” from your home to a neighborhood node (often one or more green boxes visible on the side of the street). At that node, the outgoing signal is converted to digital and sent to switching stations via fiber or higher-capacity lines. Incoming sounds are converted back from digital to analog for the final stretch to the home over the same copper wires. These calls once they're at a phone company facility travel out and back over what you can think of as the "internet".

Cable phone services typically use VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), where calls travel digitally over the internet and may be converted to analog at the home so regular household phones can work. Transport can be over fiber optic lines or coax cables.

So, if your phone service comes from a cable provider or fiber connection from a phone company, it’s not technically a traditional landline, even if you still have the same phone number.

In one manner or another, unless someone is using a "wireless" internet connection provided by cell phone companies, all "home" phone connections are "wired" in one way (copper or coaxial cable) or another (fiber optic cable).

My grandfather built a Sears Robuk home. It had a phone niche. When my mom turned 16 for her birthday they got a phone for the niche. My other grandfather worked for Bell--fixing phones/lines. By the time we visited in the late 60s early 70s every room in their home had a phone--and they were the fancy princess and trimline, push buttons!! It was AMAZING to us. Employees didn't pay for their phone lines.

roxsolid, did anyone else acknowledge your nod to Lily Tomlin and her character, the switchboard operator, on Laugh In? She was so funny.

Yes, she was funny!

I loved Laugh-In🤠

That is hilarious!!!!!!! Ernestine!!

As soon as I saw that thread title, of course Ernestine was in my head! (I was about 10 years old when I first heard her, and it was awhile before I got the reference to ”Mr Veedle” er Gore Vidal.)

Ernestine!👏🏻

One of my favorite characters she portrayed! Brilliant!

Clarification to anyone confused about what was discontinued at my mother's house ... it's the service that provides for a telephone to be plugged into the wall jack at the built-in desk (which is located adjacent to the non-formal dining area, across from the bar which is next to the kitchen, and open to the family room) which one passes by when entering the house from the carport door. The service was originally provided through a wire buried across the back yard. The teleco replaced that wire several years ago with a fiber optic cable and added a converter box in the carport storeroom to send an electrical signal to the phone jack at the desk. The fiber optic cable was moved last summer to enter the property at left side of the back yard (instead of the back of the back yard) and pass along almost the full span of the slab to enter into the carport store room, to allow for installation of a pool in the back yard after sister/SIL moved in. The fiber optic cable now functions to feed Internet service to the jack at the other end of the desk area, with appropriate equipment connected there. Previous internet service was fed to the desk via a coax cable, with another coax cable connected to the TV in the family room. TV now is streaming via WiFi. Six TVs now on the property, including one in the garage game room and one in the pool pagoda.

HTH!

My family's first phone number, when I was 5, had 4 digits and was a party line. If you lifted the receiver and heard the neighbour talking etiquette required you to replace it. We were impressed by American films where people had more than one phone and had long curly cables that allowed them to walk about.

Love Ernestine. Brought back good memories when TV shows were funny.

Pretty sure all of us Boomers recall Ernestine - Lily Tomlin is just great in everything 🙂

Well it was on tv almost 60 years ago and ran 6 seasons, and actually was very popular. Of course things are much different today but it was cutting edge back in the '60's.

Maybe our ages makes the difference. I was in high school and found Laugh-In hilarious as did my friends, Of course I know it wasn't to everyone's taste, but people of my age were glued to the set when it was on. And of course so many of their "bits" have stood the test of time and get referred to quite frequently without having to explain it to anyone. I can see where someone older might not find it as silly and fun as I did.

Sock it to me!

I preferred the Carol Burnett show which had a much longer run.

That is what makes America great - there is something for everyone of every age,

“Grownups, acting like a bunch of kids” LOL! It never ends. Another phone sketch below.

Lonejack, Carol Burnett was great, too. If it makes you laugh, that’s all that counts. Ratings schmatings. 🤷

My husband and I both loved Laugh-In and never missed it. I especially liked that some bits really tickled his funny bone to the point of him laughing until he almost cried. He was very easy going and didn’t really show his emotions much, so I really loved when he laughed hard.

Carol Burnett was the funniest show ever on TV. When she played Eunice and played SORRY , it was hilarious.

Elmer, I'm sorry you were offended. I don't know how old you are. I was just telling my experience. Like everything else, everyone is different. Again, I'm sorry.

murraysmom, I was astounded that someone took offense to mentioning age. If you’re older, you’re older. If you’re younger, you’re younger.

Age definitely comes into play as to what one enjoys at different times in your life. Being old is not a bad thing. I hope to get really old. 🤠

LOL, I’ve heard that skin gets thinner as one ages. (relax folks….just a joke)

Funny phone stuff for all ages.

I really miss the old rotary dial phone, it was such a satisfying tactical feeling to dial. It's so funny, I think there's sketches on comedy shows about it, to think about giving a young person a phone with rotary dial, they'd be lost !

I have nightmares sometimes about smartphones, where I can't get things done on it...

Elmer, you are giving my posts way too much power. I honestly don't know how old you are. It only stands to reason that during the time Laugh-In was on tv, younger people would find it more enjoyable than older people, but even that I can't say for certain since a person's sense of humor depends on many things. You did not misquote me and I was not saying anything more than if you were much older than me at that time, it could be a reason you didn't find the show enjoyable. That is all there is too it. I hope you can let it go now.

Elmer, for the last time, I was not implying you were old. I did not say you were old. I don't know how old you are and I don't need to know. You had your experience with the show and it's a very valid experience and you don't need me to tell you that. We had different outlooks on the show. It is so trivial to keep talking about this,

You can say anything you like about me. I won't be offended. I know who I am and what I am worth and what you say doesn't diminish my worth one iota.

Now where did I put my red princess phone? I need to phone a friend.

🤷 That’s all folks.

Another thread bites the dust.