That black box on the table is a telephone.

[Tom P.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

And there was a time you shared a phone line with someone down the road, remember the "one" and "two" rings!

It was called a party line. I lived with my grand parents during hi-school and they had a party line. The phone in the first picture of post #2 came out of their house. The little switch on the lower corner was used to turn off-on the bell.

[Terry M.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

Tom,

Good thing for you one no longer pays per connected phone.

Anyone remember when one could have a pay phone in the home, or maybe that was local to Chicago? I remember we had to put a nickle in the box to be connected to the operator. We couldn't get a monthly arrangement so it was pay as you go.

[Tom P.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

I clearly remember when appartments/rooming houses had a common pay phone in the entry downstairs near the base of the stairs. I always wondered what a hassle it would be if you lived upstairs and had to run downstairs to talk on the phone and everyone could hear your conversation.
Also, phone conversations were once very short. I remember parents saying "Get off the phone, someone may be trying to call us".

[Joseph T.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

When I bought the 15,000 mile 1954 Corvette George Moore Special with Sebring drivetrain, George had a number of vintage phones in his garage. I showed interest but he was giving them to family. George worked for the phone company in Texas.
I didnt get the phones but I did get the complete collection of Corvette News and the Moose Head and a number of original SEDCO parts.

...PS* I remember the phone# in my parents Chicago Grocery Store..Everglade 4-7224

[Rob M.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

I found this one in the UK last year, still works...
IMG_0738.jpg

[John H.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

The wall-mounted crank-ringer party line phone in our summer cottage "Up North" in the late 40's was Cheboygan 237J; no dial - you turned the crank to get the operator's attention, and gave her the number you wanted.

[Tom D.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

From Wikipedia: One of the earliest examples of remote control was developed in 1898 by Nikola Tesla, and described in his patent, U.S. Patent 613,809, named Method of an Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vehicle or Vehicles. In 1898, he demonstrated a radio-controlled boat to the public during an electrical exhibition at Madison Square Garden. Tesla called his boat a "teleautomaton".[4]

TV remotes were new in the fifties, according to the same web page.

[Al E.]

Re: That black box on the table is a telephone.

I don't know what was the most common use for this type of phone, but I frequently saw them in use in auto parts stores and businesses with a counter. This one is at one end of my workbench in the garage.
You can see it here. Sure comes in handy with the loooooooooong cord for the handset.

Nice trailer.. do you pull it with the vette