Each Monday there is a standing feature in the Temple Daily Telegram called Backroads. Reporters take turns finding stories that tell about the way things used to be back in the day. My story today was on telephone service early in the 20th century.
It was fascinating taking a look back at this technology and how much it has changed. One of the things I wrote about was that when people had trouble hearing somebody on the phone they would go outside and pour a bucket of water on the ground wire.
I laughed when my editor called me as he was editing the story. Our phone connection was bad and we could barely hear each other. He told me to go outside and pour some water on the line.
It's funny that something that apparently used to help reception can now destroy a cell phone.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Operator, Would You Help Me Place This Call
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2 comments:
I use to take care of an elderly woman. She was 95. She told me she was a telephone operator for most of her adult life. She would be over a hundred years old now.It was fun to talk to her about her work. She could remember the far past. But didn't remember what happened a minute ago.
I remember when every little kid wanted a play telephone.
How fun! My grandparents lived in rural Idaho. I remember they had what was called a party line, I think. They had the same phone number as someone else. When the phone rang twice it was for them if only once it was for the other people. It was strange to not have them get the phone everytime it rang. My how times hve changed. Now we choose our own phone ring sound. JCV
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