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Anyone have the original phones from where you live?

Started by Cole, September 08, 2019, 12:42:50 PM

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Cole

My parent's house (bought from original owners in 1995) came with a beige rotary desk phone with a date of 1980 on bottom. Base says "Refurbco" underneath and handset has the Comdial name. House was built in 1976 but phone is not too far newer. It even has the number card with the old phone number and area code on it. Pretty neat that it's stayed in the house all these years. If it was all made by Comdial it would have been made in Sarasota FL so likely never left the state either.

countryman

I have the Siemens 611-2 from 1968 that came when my parents subscribed for a phone line. I was 1 year old at that time :-)  The phone  was rented from Deutsche Bundespost and served well until the mid 1990ies. By then the phone market was liberalized, the rental agreement could be cancelled and own phones used. The rented phone could be sent in for recycling, what we never did.
I remember I installed a small PBX and fax machine on the same landline for my parents. The nasty glue stains must be from a sticker "dial 0 first" I attached for them... In 2000 I remodelled formerly unused parts of the house and moved back in.  I had an ISDN line installed and got the PBX I still use. Internet first came via ISDN PC card or modem, later via ADSL, now VDSL with VOIP. My current router supplies both ISDN and analog phone connectivity.

Doug Rose

Kidphone

Butch Harlow

My parents house growing up was a showcase of Design Line phones. I am slowly collecting an example of each of them. I have the Country Junction, Mickey Mouse, and the wooden duck. The duck isn't design line, but it's super weird. I still need the black 1973 candlestick to complete the set.
Butch Harlow

Dan/Panther

This is the closest I can come.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

andre_janew

I don't have any phones from the farm.  I did get a 95A dial blank for my 1954 500 to make it look like the 1953 500 I used to have.  I also have a 12-55 500 that looks like the 1957 500 my grandmother used to have.

19and41

We had a black 554 on the kitchen wall from 1958 to 66.  It was the one that "the phone company" pulled the infamous pillowcase trick on my poor sister.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

HarrySmith

Quote from: 19and41 on September 11, 2019, 02:04:42 PM
"the phone company" pulled the infamous pillowcase trick on my poor sister.

Huh? What is or was the "infamous pillowcase trick"?
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

19and41

The year I was to start grade school, my older sister would watch me and do some house chores.  One day the phone rang and my sister answered and it  was "the phone company" calling with some important instructions for her to follow to the letter.  he advised her that they were going to blow out the lines that day and it was vital that she leave the receiver off the hook and get a pillowcase and tie it tightly over it, or all the dirt would blow out all over the house and make a big mess.  My folks would call each afternoon to make sure I hadn't blown the house up or anything and when they did, they just got a busy signal.  My mother rushed out of the factory after calling my grandmother and started home.  This didn't happen for either the Cuban missile crisis nor the president's assassination.  My grandmother met her at the door and told her "wait til you hear this one".  They found out the phone company was a wiseacre kid across the street.   
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

HarrySmith

Ahh, ok. I have heard that one before but with a slightly different twist. I don't think there was a pillowcase involved, I believe "The Phone Company" told the person to hang the handset out a window!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

19and41

When I was growing all we had was Sir Walter Raleigh, Prince Albert and the good old refrigerator.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

Cole

I wasn't around then, but the one I heard was the phone company calling and asking the customer to "blow into the phone to clean out the lines." lol

andre_janew

The one I remember is from the Dick Van Dyke Show.  I don't remember all the details, but it involved making some wiring changes in the handset to get rid of a tapping noise.