hang up and redial the entire number because you either missed putting your finger in the correct number as you dialed or didn't go far enough when dialing.  Dialing on these phones was an art all to itself.

... so they could refuse the charge and know you made it back safely?  Or hell, who remembers collect calls?

until I was about 12.

That was where you'd pick up the phone and hear your neighbor talking on it because there were not enough phone lines to go around.

Even as recently as the mid-80s I had to pay toll charges just to call two towns over where I live.

Things have really advanced quickly since then

The girls I pork think flip phones are the "back in the day" phones and think music from the 80's are the oldies. LOL

Like I was telling Lamey the other night...you just can't beat the young ones Molly.

You hear a beep beep....put on hold...

They were never long enough to reach my bedroom to talk to my Bf's! Teenagers sure have it easy these days..LOL!

Drove me nuts! When wall phone came out they refused to get one! Double sigh...

Steph

-- Modified on 8/9/2015 5:58:03 AM

...it took to dial a number with a rotary phone vs. the new-fangled push button phone.

of taking your list of ten provider phone numbers to a hidden pay phone in hopes one would be available to see you within a moments notice. If you called about ten minutes after the hour, you had a better chance, since no shows were more prevalent in those days. Sometimes you went home empty handed, and sometimes luck prevailed. Screening? Back then, the ladies used their sixth sense to determine if you were safe. Or so I was told

I remember those days, at least as they ended.  I was young enough, yet also smart enough, to profit.  

Fortunately, we had our good times in NYC, Westchester, and in FL.  

Handed down from a family member
My parents wouldn't get call waiting so our phone line stayed busy.
I remember that Sony cordless phone with that long rubber antennae.lol
If someone really wanted to get through to reach us they had to call the operator and pay to do an emergency break through on the line.On the phone having a conversation and all of a sudden the operator cuts in on the phone line and says there is an emergency call.Of course it was never a real emergency just someone tired of calling and getting the busy signal.lol

-- Modified on 8/10/2015 4:24:23 AM