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Remember Long Distance Phone Calls?


Razors Edge
Go to solution Solved by bikeman564™,

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Or even collect calls, busy signals, or call waiting???  Man, when we got our first cordless phone in ~1980 or so, it was revolutionary (but you could still eavesdrop on a line).  And getting a detailed, line-by-line phone bill with long distance charges itemized was crazy!

Heck, remember answering the phone and NOT knowing who was on the other side? :frantics:

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I remember my parents calling family in Holland in the early morning.  If mom was on the phone at 5 AM & yelling in Dutch had to be a family call.

WoChrisL & I spent some time in our relationship on opposite coasts so yeah we had some high long distance bills. 

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20 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

And I knew peoples phone numbers.

Right…. Early in my career I carried a small notebook with client & staff numbers. However after a while I memorized most numbers. The notebook  was later replaced by a Palm Pilot which then went away for a smartphone linked to my outlook. And my memory has gone to shit in the process.

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7 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Right…. Early in my career I carried a small notebook with client & staff numbers. However after a while I memorized most numbers. The notebook  was later replaced by a Palm Pilot which then went away for a smartphone linked to my outlook. And my memory has gone to shit in the process.

I had a handwritten, then typed,  ~1.5" x 3" sheet of "laminated" paper with names, numbers, & addresses that fit in my billfold section of my wallet.  I'd update it every once in a while and re-laminate it (put clear packing tape on both sides).  It worked well for a decade or more.

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I also remember party lines.

WoJSTL and I were 1250 miles apart for 2 years in the '70s. Both were broke so phone calls were rare.

When we were in England from 1988 to 1992, phone calls to the States were about $1 a minute. When youngest daughter lived in Europe around 2010 we could Skype basically for free.

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22 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Right…. Early in my career I carried a small notebook with client & staff numbers. However after a while I memorized most numbers. The notebook  was later replaced by a Palm Pilot which then went away for a smartphone linked to my outlook. And my memory has gone to shit in the process.

Yup. I still remember my home phone number as a kid, and a couple friends' numbers back then. But now I don't know hardly any :(

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4 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Yup. I still remember my home phone number as a kid, and a couple friends' numbers back then. But now I don't know hardly any :(

My mom used to give out our phone number by saying "Midway-2" instead of 642???  WTF???  Sometimes said "Em-Eye-7" for the 647 folks.  Not sure where the "midway" came from but the first two letters are M and I, which were/are 6 and 4 on the dial.

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9 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

My mom used to give out our phone number by saying "Midway-2" instead of 642???  WTF???  Sometimes said "Em-Eye-7" for the 647 folks.  Not sure where the "midway" came from but the first two letters are M and I, which were/are 6 and 4 on the dial.

years ago, there was a dude in my bike club IIRC, who's phone number spelled DRY-BIKE :D Cannondale's number is 800-BIKE-USA

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1 minute ago, bikeman564™ said:

years ago, there was a dude in my bike club IIRC, who's phone number spelled DRY-BIKE :D Cannondale's number is 800-BIKE-USA

Am I the only one who HATES words as numbers???? I can easily dial 800-234-5678, but 800-BIKE-USA???? WTF is that?  Now I have to look at the darn numbers and spell???  ARGH!!!

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When we moved to where we live now we had a horrible land line company and they were located north of anywhere I had lived. All the local calls were that direction. We never made any local calls, I didn’t even know anybody local. All our calls were long distance. I have a Mercer address but to call Mercer was a long distance call. They gave us a Meadville phone book and yellow pages. I threw it away. When we got a cell phone tower in sight of our house I called the land line company and said bye bye. I have never regretted it.

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1 minute ago, bikeman564™ said:

Reminds me of an old commercial when I was a kid

When I was a kid :scratchhead: we didn't use no stinkin' area codes!  And when we had to use those stupid area codes, we didn't even know about the "1-" part!  We were rebels and we just knew seven numbers and it was good enough for ALL of us.

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29 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Yup. I still remember my home phone number as a kid, and a couple friends' numbers back then. But now I don't know hardly any :(

My first phone number as an adult with an account had all the same digits as my parents’ phone number, but in a different order. 

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Just now, Razors Edge said:

When I was a kid :scratchhead: we didn't use no stinkin' area codes!  And when we had to use those stupid area codes, we didn't even know about the "1-" part!  We were rebels and we just knew seven numbers and it was good enough for ALL of us.

When I was a kid, the lower peninsula of Michigan had 3 area codes.  Now there is probably 10-12 :wacko: The upper had one...and still does :D

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I remember my mom recalling their number as Klondike (556).  When my parents moved to the house I grew up in they had a 714 557 number so it had changed some from 556.

I remember there was one area code for Orange County (714) which also included Riverside county, one for LA (213) one for San Diego (619).

OC has 2, Riverside has their own, LA has 3-4 and San Diego has 2.

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Just now, ChrisL said:

Hey Tom remember “USA 1000”. Go ahead, sing the song!

My brain is stuck with Kars for Kids - ARGH!!!!!  I HATE THAT ONE.  And then out of nowhere, Jhoon Ree Self Defense pops in, but I don't even think that had a number!

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