Old Phone


 
Rick P

Rick P

TVWBB Pro
I was on another site where a buddy was bragging about being old enough to remember having a rotary phone. We have this one in our bedroom. It's a Western Electric Model 302. It's the same model and year of the phone that was used on the set of "I Love Lucy" I bought it years ago, had it refurbished and gifted it to my wife, who is the biggest Lucy fan in the universe. It works, and sounds great.

Anyone else have or use rotary phones?
 

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Rick P said:
I was on another site where a buddy was bragging about being old enough to remember having a rotary phone. We have this one in our bedroom. It's a Western Electric Model 302. It's the same model and year of the phone that was used on the set of "I Love Lucy" I bought it years ago, had it refurbished and gifted it to my wife, who is the biggest Lucy fan in the universe. It works, and sounds great.

Anyone else have or use rotary phones?
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When I was a kid we had a party line phone, many calls needed "O" assistance to make, and the phone even had it's own piece of furniture and special room in the house. My sister and I used to pick up the phone and try listening in on people. Occasionally they'd hear us giggling in the background and start yelling at us. And we didn't live in some backwater place. This was in the city of Chicago
 
We have a special piece of furniture for the phone. We actually bought it 20+ years ago in a thrift shop because we liked the way it looked..and didn't know it was. I had it refinished because the phone fits on it perfectly.
 

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I have one, though not as old as yours. It was one of those "vintage reproductions" that Bell offered back in... the late 70s, I think.
This is one with the handset hanging on the disconnect hook on the side of the phone. I'll try to remember to get a pic.

It still works but since I got rid of the landline (I thought I was the last person in the US to do that LOL), it is just a wall decoration.
 
Rick P said:
We have a special piece of furniture for the phone. We actually bought it 20+ years ago in a thrift shop because we liked the way it looked..and didn't know it was. I had it refinished because the phone fits on it perfectly.
Click to expand...
Where's your phone book for the slide out on the right side? 😀 (That IS a slide out, right?)
 
The farmhouse where I grew up not only had a rotary phone, but was on a party line until I was almost through college, in the mid 80's.

When the time came to convert to a dedicated line, the telco told my folks about a 3 month window or some such. Dad came into the farm yard one afternoon, and found a crew taking down the party line. He needed the phone.... and no dial tone. Turns out the contractor who was supposed to run the new line never did. The crew had to make a temporary hang to get service back up. A few months later, same thing, crew was taking down the temporary lash-up. No dial tone. A car load of telco suits had just been spotted by Dad a few minutes early, he jumped in the pickup, chased them down, and gave them an earful. Not only had the contractor never plowed in the new line, they'd submitted it as a completed job and gotten paid for it. The new line was plowed in just a couple of days later.
 
Brenda T said:
I have one, though not as old as yours. It was one of those "vintage reproductions" that Bell offered back in... the late 70s, I think.
This is one with the handset hanging on the disconnect hook on the side of the phone. I'll try to remember to get a pic.

It still works but since I got rid of the landline (I thought I was the last person in the US to do that LOL), it is just a wall decoration.
Click to expand...
We pay for a landline just for that phone. The sound quality is superb and we love to hear it ring...
 
Rick P said:
We have a special piece of furniture for the phone. We actually bought it 20+ years ago in a thrift shop because we liked the way it looked..and didn't know it was. I had it refinished because the phone fits on it perfectly.
Click to expand...
That looks almost identical except the one we had had a chair attached to the table and a little writing area so you could jot something down while sitting and relaxing along with a smoke (there was a large ash tray as well though not attached). Oddly neither my mom or dad smoked cigarettes. My dad smoked cigars but was not allowed in the house with one. Not even in the basement :D But, people smoked cigarettes in our home when visiting. Great times :D
 
Our northern house came with a rotary phone.
The cable company tossed in the phone service as part of the bundle when we first had internet there so we had a live rotor phone for a year or two until we went with StarLink.

I’ve told the story before but I’ll do it again.
I wrote 867-5309 where the number on the phone would be displayed.
My daughter rented part of the property from us at first before she bought her own place.
She gave out that number to several places before she finally figured it out.
She wasn’t happy with me.
 
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