Bored Teenagers and rotary phones.

[dpaynter1066]

Back in the day, in South Carolina I would be pretty bored with nothing to do.

So as an amusement, I would get on the one black rotary 500 phone we had in the hall sitting in a Telephone wall nitch and dial what we called the "hotline".

Well, thats what we called it, and It was phone - phreaking of a sort, as Ma Bell certainly never intended us to do that.  It was a way to talk to girls...
You would dial your own number at a certain time of night and get the busy signal. 

Then just wait a while and get the feel of the timing of the "Beep Beep beep" of the busy signal and then start shouting into the receiver between "beeps"

IE: Beep -HEY-Beep-WHOS-beep-ON" 
and you'd hear very faintly in reply "Beep-this-Beep-is-Beep-Jenna- Beep.     
"Beep-HEY-Beep-GIRL-Beep-CALL-Beep-ME-beep-ALPINE-Beep-2-Beep-63-Beep-41         Beep-ok-Beep.  And yould hang up and chat when she called you.

It got pretty busy at times on there when everyone was shouting at the same time in rythm.

[AE_Collector]

I recall doing "Talk over Busy Mods" to Strowger back in the 70's. As opposed to what the mods were called, it WASN'T to make it easier to talk over the busy signal!

Terry

[Dennis Markham]

Welcome to the Forum dpaynter1066.  We called it the "beep-beep" line where I lived in northern Alabama at the time...probably 1963-1964.  I was contacted by someone in Minnesota that called it the Jam line.  If you'd like to hear an actual recording that a visitor to my blog sent me just go to the posting.  You'll see a link to the audio clip.

http://www.vintagerotaryphones.com/?p=100

[rtp129495]

HAAH wow how cool, I am a bit young for this sort of thing being that I was a teen during the ESS switch era. But it is pretty cool that that worked and a lot of people knew it! Good way not just to meet girls but phone phreaks too LOL!!! what a different time.