Party lines

[unbeldi]

In a 1955 telephone directory from Lincoln, Nebraska I found these instructions for dialing on a party line.

I wonder how many times this caused operator invention for help, in particular for rural subscribers. Not that it is particularly difficult, just not terribly user-friendly, since one cannot just dial the number of your neighbors.

[Contempra]

thank you unbeldi. nice piece of history

[G-Man]

From the TCI Library, here is the 1944 instructions and its cover.

[G-Man]

From the TCI Library, here is the 1944 instructions and its cover.

I forgot to add the dialing instructions.

[unbeldi]

From the TCI Library, here is the 1944 instructions and its cover.

I forgot to add the dialing instructions.

Thank you!  I didn't know it was in the TCI library.  I guess I never checked.
Seems like not much had changed between 1944 and 1955.
Except the cover was much more elaborate in 44.

The Lincoln Telephone and Telegraph Company had an interesting history, in being one of the last independents, I think into the 1990s.

[Greg G.]

Most of us have never used a party line. However, it is important to know that party lines were the norm, especially in rural areas. By having two or more--sometimes 20!--different customers share the same line, the cost of outside plant (facilities) and central office facilities per customer could be reduced.

...

Bell often used a different method of selecting the correct party to ring. Using relays or cold cathode tubes, they could ring 4 different parties selectively---without disturbing the other parties--or 8 parties semi-selectively, where your phone would ring for only you and one other party, but not the other 6 on the same line. In order to know the call was for you, there would be different ringing cadences, such as one long ring or two short rings.

Those are the ones I remember as a kid in the northern burbs of Seattle in the late 50s and 60s.  Later in the mid to late 60s we still had party lines, but not the "coded" rings.

[cchaven]

My mom still had a party line in southern Missouri, Rockaway Beach just outside of Branson, as  late as 1984/85.  I don't believe it used the coded ringing though.  With two teenage sisters, plus other teens on the line, it was always interesting trying to get the telephone free.  I do remember we had the standard wall mounted Trimline at the time.

Jeff

[DavePEI]

Our party lines remained here until the later 1990s - I forget the year we finally got a private line.

Back in the 60s we had ten people on our line. Over the years, the number of people on the line was gradually reduced until that fateful day in the 1990s we finally reached the point where ours was the only ring we heard.

Oh, heavenly day!

http://www.islandregister.com/phones/partyline.html

Dave

[Contempra]

Here in Quebec is approximately the mid-1970s. We had the choice between a private line and the party line (several on the same line)

Denis

[DavePEI]

Here in Quebec is approximately the mid-1970s. We had the choice between a private line and the party line (several on the same line)

Denis

We had that choice, too. Problem was, there weren't enough lines in the buried cable along the road, making it impossible to get private lines, even if one could afford the much increased rates for private.

In 1956, a severe ice storm took down lines across the Island. In the 70s came a move to bury the rural cables to prevent storm damage. The problem was, being an agricultural area, farmer's plows wreaked havoc on the newly buried lines, resulting in frequent cable replacement!

http://www.islandregister.com/phones/icestorm.html

Over the next 15 years or so, several new cables were buried, none with enough capacity for everyone until the 1990s when finally the infrastructure could support it. Then, private lines became not only available, but were covered under the base rate The final cable buried in the 90s was more protected and is still in service..

Dave