Did anybody have a party line growing up?

[kramer]

I was watching 'Man in a Hurry' the other day. When the scene about the two older ladies using the phone all day came on, it got my mom into telling me about how it was in her day. I can't imagine having to live like that. I guess I just take it for grated that when I pick up the phone I will be able to use it at any time. She was telling me how they would know if it was for their house or a neighbors. If the call was for my mom's house she would have two long rings and short. They did not have a 'Sara' they could just dial the number directly, but they called it something like VA3-5555.

[brgmgb]

We had a party line when I was very young. We shared it with one other family. We also had a phone number that began ELmwood 5 (or 355). My grandmother's phone number started with PLainfield 3. I don't know when they phased out the exchange office names.

[comedyfreak]

I wish times were simple like that again. We never had a party line, I grew up in the 60's and 70's. My Mom never talked about the party lines.

[TV_on_the_Porch]

I don't know when party lines were entirely phased out (indeed I'd be surprised if none existed anywhere today considering there was still a magneto-crank exchange in a town in Maine in the early '80s!) but in my town you could still subscribe on a party line for a lower monthly rate at least into the late 1970s.

[ethelmaepotter]

My Grandmother had a party line. As a kid, I remember getting a kick out of picking up the phone and listening to the conversations of complete strangers. And no....I don't work for the Bush Administration! (hahahahaha!)

[AB]

We also had a party line when I was a kid, there were 7 or 8 houses on our
line. Our ring was a long ring & 2 short rings. My grandmother loved the party
line, she liked to listen in on everyones conversations. They fazed it out in
our area in the mid 70's. It could be a real pain if you needed to use the phone and someone was already on it.

[V20]

We had a party line when I was a kid (lived in the suburbs of Denver) up until about 1968 or so, as I recall my parents saying we could not get a private line. Then about 1968 we finally got one.

Sometimes, you could have the choice to opt for a party line and save some money on your phone bill. Other times, (like us) there were no private lines available.

We only had one other person on our party line, a crabby old woman named 'Lucy' who lived on the street behind us, two houses over. I can remember her picking up the phone and deliberately making noise every two or three minutes when she wanted to get on the line, trying to get us to hang up.

Yes, party lines could be like that. Luckily, at that age (and being a guy) I didn't use the phone all that much.

Somewhere I read a few years ago that there are still people in rural areas of the U.S. on party lines, even 8 people on one line!

We had a 7 digit phone number that began with the letters 'PY' and then the last 5 numbers. I remember learning it that way, back then people would always say the 2 letter, 5 number combination for their phone number. I guess it was sometime toward the end of the 1960's when everybody went over to saying the 7-digit numbers.

We never used the 'word' in saying our phone number, it was always the two letters.

Here is a website that gives all the 'exchange names' (apparently that's what they were officially called) for telephone numbers:

http://ourwebhome.com/TENP/Recommended.html

Now you can start giving out your phone number with the exchange name just like they used to do! (and completely confuse anybody under the age of 50)

[showfan]

We had a party line until the late 70s. We dialed the phone and it rang just as today(no sara), but we shared it with a couple of other homes. Sometimes we would pick up to make a call and someone would be on talking.

[Scoobiedoo30]

No

[tiltjlp]

Yep, our number started with Gr5 andview, and we shared the line with 3 other families. Our ring was a short, two longs, and a short. Usually we didn't have any problem with making calls, if it was really important a neighbor would give up the phone for your call. When they changed over to all numbers in the early 70s, I have a dickens of a time remembering the new number.

John

[dahur1]

Originally Posted by TDRyan

I don't know when party lines were entirely phased out (indeed I'd be surprised if none existed anywhere today considering there was still a magneto-crank exchange in a town in Maine in the early '80s!) but in my town you could still subscribe on a party line for a lower monthly rate at least into the late 1970s.

I retired in 2003 from SBC, in Flint, Mi., and there were still party lines. Usually older people who didn't use their phone much, and wanted the lower monthly rate. Most of the time they didn't have another party on with them, as no neighbors had a party line. They were occasionally bridged in the C.O.(company office). I hated wiring them up when they were still common in the 70's. Everything had to be just right to work correctly. If the ground wire came loose, no ring. And each phone was wired differently for the proper ring. Ugghh!

[Inca]

We had a party line in Central Indiana in the late 70's. It was at our summer cottage. It seemed so strange to pick the phone up and hear other people on it. If I remember correctly, I think they converted it to a private line in the early 80's.