There are a lot of young folks out there who have never seen a rotary-dial phone. In fact, some have never heard a dial tone! That is a pretty amazing fact for those of us who can remember when touchtone phones, or push-button phones as we knew them, were a rare sight.
Rotary phones were the standard, and some of our homes had phones that dated back to the forties or fifties. After all, the phone belonged to the phone company, not us. We had them replaced if they broke. And they were amazingly reliable pieces of technology that simply didn't break.
But seeing how the times were a-changing, the telephone technology itself was modernizing. In fact, entire generations can see quantum leaps of how we communicate by voice over wires. Our grandparents didn't have phones. Our parents had to crank a handle to reach an operator, who would then connect them to the party they sought. We were spoiled, indeed, to merely dial a number.
Today, of course, our kids know about cell phones and VOIP. But touchtone phones were a big deal to us. It was so cool to hear tones play! Songbooks were even released, so we could make music while making calls that, if they connected, reached perfect strangers.
The first AT&T touchtone phones were introduced with numeric keys only in 1963. It took five years for the pound and star keys to show up.
Adoption was steady, but it took a long time for them to appear in some areas. My small town first offered them in the mid 70's.
Nowadays, it's probably been a while since you've called a business and heard a recorded voice say something like "if you have a touchtone phone, you may dial your extension now." And rotary phones won't even work on many phone companies' lines any more.But once upon a time, the touchtone phone was new, cool, and hard to find.
Comments (5)
We have the rotary phone that we *rented* from Ma Bell back in the 50s and 60s. It still has our original 1952 5-digit number under the 7-digit number that we were forced to use in about 60.
And the voice quality from that phone is better than the new ones.
Those phones were designed to last forever.
Anyone remember "party lines"?
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Jere
Posted by Jere Lull | February 18, 2007 2:56 AM
Posted on February 18, 2007 02:56
I'm dating myself, but I indeed remember when you were cool to have a touchtone..I digress to
the PRINCESS phone, the first cool phone by western electric...came out in the late 60's, lightweight, way long cord for teens to talk all over the room, nice oval shape, clamshell
hand-in-glove look and fit. Oh, and the coolest
thing was the numbers were back-lit, which was even a bit sexy.
So cool to make a call when the lights were off at night with the lit numbers, also convenient when the lights were off in the room and not having to turn a bright lite on to make a call.......
Posted by scott | July 20, 2007 5:25 AM
Posted on July 20, 2007 05:25
Wanna buy a duck, 'er, I mean Princess phone...
I think these are originals, but they may be remakes..who cares?
I need to outfit the whole house with these damn things....that and
a afro-turf shag rug in
Orange, topped off with
a dogs playing poker pic, and who needs drugs anymore?
Posted by scott | July 20, 2007 5:32 AM
Posted on July 20, 2007 05:32
I remember having the option of "true touch tone service" when getting home phone service...and I came across an older push button phone--even though it emitted tones, it didn't work with the touch tone service or navigating automated menus.
Even in the last 10 years or so I knew people who didn't get touch tone because it cost extra.
Posted by Cynthia | January 2, 2009 11:36 AM
Posted on January 2, 2009 11:36
I'd kill for a decent Western Electric phone heavy enough that it doesn't come sliding off the desk when you pull the cord even a little bit. Why did the old cords, even the curly ones, not wrap around them selves, but newer ones do?
Posted by CL1053 KS | September 14, 2009 11:14 PM
Posted on September 14, 2009 23:14