Reply to Just for fun: Pre-Cell Phone Stories

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So, so many!

My grandparents often made a three hour drive to visit us. My grandmother always wrote out a note and pinned (with a straight pin) it to the rear passenger seat:

“We are Lyle and Lily Larlo, ages 76 and 77, on our way to visit our daughter Jane at 123 Main St, Rico Suave, CA. Her phone number is (123)456-7890.”

Also, before my grandparents would leave their house, my GF would call the State Police barracks adjacent to a steep mountain pass to ask for a weather report. This was a common customer question as the location was prone to becoming impassable during high winds, snow or rain. If the trooper at dispatch gave the all-clear, they’d leave.

But, they’d call our house phone and let it ring 4 times and hang up - our signal that they were leaving and so we could start timing their arrival.

We’d do the opposite when we’d arrive safely home - let their house phone ring 4x and hang up. No long distance charge this way.[/quote]
How would the family know not to pick up the phone if your grandparents were calling to let it ring 4 times? [/quote]

This PP. Phones didn’t ring all the time. We’d generally know that our grandparents would be home 4 hours later. So, if our phone rang 4 times and stopped, it was our grandparents. If it rang a 5th time, we’d pick up.

DH family took it a more complicated step further; his grandparents and parents would collect call using a code name. The operator would call, someone would answer and then the operator would announce “Collect call from Mr. Crabapple, will you accept the call?” You’d say no that you wouldn’t accept and no charge for the call. Sometimes, you might be able to talk over the operator and get in a quick “love you!”[/quote]

Freshman year in college I did the call collect from the payphone trick.  I worked late in a design studio so I gave my parents and best friend the payphone number. When I needed a break I could call them collect and give the code name. They would reject the call but then call me back. It was cheaper for them to call then me to put change in the pay phone.  [/quote]

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