ypsi~dixit

The piano array, as it stands, is using only a fraction of my collection. For a couple of phones, I have to get more antique adaptors, and for phones that were originally hardwired into the wall, I have to...well, not to bore you, but fiddle with the little prongy-things and fix up a thingie. It's all doable. Just needs patience, research, and time.

My winter project is to adapt my 1913 crank phone to take incoming calls. I have studied this and need a special network transistor plate doojobby to secrete in the ancient phone to make it compatible with modern networks. It's also doable. It'll be fun soldering it up and oh, how thrilled I'll be once it works!

That particular phone would only be able to take incoming calls. Some people put a dial on those old cabinet phones, a desecration that makes Y. shudder. Besides, the front doors weren't built to handle the stress of dialing. They were built, on tiny hinges, only to cover the magneto.

I'm hoping that my multi phone array isn't draining obscene amounts of power, when ringing, from MCI and lighting up some red light somewhere in MCI headquarters. Hopefully I can skate under the radar with my unconventional phone bank.

Y. notes that her posts about old phones are notable in their tumbleweed-festooned desert-like dearth of comments, and concludes that this is one of those geeky hobbies that raises not a storm of comments but, at best, an eyebrow. Ah well. That's OK. The blog is all about what I'm interested in, and this is one of those things, so that's that.

Still, ain't it cool? Huh? Ain't it? :)

Your house will be like a clock collector's. Except louder. And with sprouts.

To clarify, I think it's cool.

Will the phone companies discontinue land-line service in my lifetime? I guess I shouldn't worry; there will doubtless be adaptors.

Do I really get to be the first person to tell you about Port-O-Rotary? Looks like I do!

:) Thank you Vera! This is only the beginning!

Murph: I read that page agog! How inventive and original! The author also is making a tidy little business out of it, I note, and more power to him! Thank you for that terrific link.

What is importain, is that you are having fun.

Indeed, Listener; it keeps me out of trouble. It's amazing to me that landline technology has changed so little since the inception of telephony that a simple li'l four-prong adaptor instantly revives that shapely old 1947 beauty.

Simple technology is the best technology as it lasts and do not break down as often as complex technology. Let us keep thngs simple.

Listener: I'm with you.Pertinent quote:

"Most Americans were served by ATT-owned phone companies, and rented phones that were made by ATT. Many others were served by GTE-owned phone companies, and rented phones made by GTE. A phone's rental fee included on-premises repairs. And since the same company that made the phone, was obligated to send out a man in a truck to fix it; rental phones were designed to go 15 years without service. In fact, some phones made 50 years ago still work fine.

"Everything changed when phones became "consumer products" around 1980. Competitive pressure, short warranties, and the elimination of on-premises service, led to lower quality. Some manufacturers were content to make $1.99 "throw-away," phones that sounded lousy, got frequent wrong numbers, and lasted barely 365 days. ►A throw-away phone might be OK for a child's room, but is inappropriate, inadequate and dangerous for "mission-critical" applications, where a wrong number or misunderstood syllable could mean disappointment, delay or even death."

I would happily find a place for an adaptor and a rotary phone if only I would get one for say........ Christmas? I had a rotary phone for years and can't find it anywhere. That would be fun, and the kids are mesmerized by the whole idea of the dial and the clicks, and all.

(quickly) Well, it's really a shame that I don't have any extras! No, ma'am! Just ran out! No spares here! Phone shortage! Hey, my sis, look! There's a cardinal on the birdfeeder! No, over there!

But if I did have a "line" on a phone,* my sis, what sort of color are you thinking of? And regular or four-prong? Lit or unlit dial? Trans-wire pinger or anti-transverse meter? Slide-in connector panel or double resistor changer? Recalibrated circuit plug-in or unreconstituted soldered quad-unit? Well?

*just a little telephone humor**, there.

**very little.

I seem to remember a post about animal hoarers. Do we need to be worried about you?

I seem to remember a post about animal hoarers. Do we need to be worried about you?

Color? Ringer? Dial? Good Heavens! Guess I would leave that to the (ahem) experts.

Anna: Phones don't poop. So there's none of the usual neighbors' "I smelled something" whining. No, ma'am, no worries here! Say, d'you have any spare rotaries I could buy from you? (mops sweaty forehead, panting)

Iss: OK. Question: Are you interested in a lovely old vintage model, or just one of the standard old rotaries? Some of those older ones are pieces of sculpture. Really beautiful, and by virtue of their indestructibleness, kid-proof. It is easy to adapt their old four-prong connectors to a modern phone line.

You should feel how heavy the handset is on my treasured 1947 phone. It's practically a barbell. That beauty has lasted 60 years. I doubt it'll die anytime soon.

I think it's charming that the kids would be interested in the dialing mechanism. You are right, it would be a kick for them. Plus when the power goes out, you'll always have a communications device.

Iss: You know, there are also candlestick phones out there. Those are the upright pole ones with a conelike earpiece that hangs on the side. The kind you see in really old movies. Are you thinking of one of those?

Just say the word, sweetie.

on our last foray into the woods behind barb's we stumbled upon the Tartus , phone intact , except for the money drawer ......slate roof , folding door, no dial tone ...that was yesterday
Perhaps I can snag this beauty and travel in time again ....it's in Georgetown A2

Mr. F., may I ask, what sort of phone was that? Sounds interesting.

1940's is my fave for almost anything - music, movies, and items such as phones.....

Yep, I recall how you always loved the music of that era. I'll send ya a picture of my 1947 phone; it's a beaut. It has a faint echo on the line, which only makes it more evocative.

itsa pre-50's at least it has been in the woods that long ....all steel, rotary dial, transformer and coil opperated....no coins in the return slot though .....

I suppose you're right: Hoarding phones is much more sanitary than hoarding animals.

I've also been trying to pry the rotary phone we had in the kitch as a child out of my mother's hands, but she won't part with it, alas.