The Party Line

October 13, 2014 by The Minnesota Farm Woman

Back in the days before cell phones, automatic voice dialing, and caller ID, there was a gadget called a rotary telephone. It hung on the wall or was placed on the desk and had a round dial with numbers and letters. You could dial “0” and get an operator who would look up a number for you, give weather updates, and answer important questions like “Is your refrigerator running?” or “Do you have Prince Albert in the can?” When I was growing up, we had a party line, which meant that our line was shared by others in the neighborhood. Party lines were cheaper than private lines, and my parents, who grew up during the depression years, saved money any way they could. We shared our line with the Kozisek family. Mrs. Kozisek chatted on the phone every afternoon, and I was really good at quietly picking up the receiver and listening in on her conversations. Our phone had an extra long cord, and I would cover the mouthpiece with one hand while slooowly lifting the receiver so it wouldn’t click, then stretch the cord as long as it would go to the top of the attic stairs which led to my bedroom. I sat there quietly with the receiver to my ear, barely breathing so I wouldn’t give myself away. I don’t know why I was so snoopy, and I honestly don’t remember a single one of her conversations, but apparently it was great entertainment for me at the time. We were lucky to share our line with only one other neighbor. My friend, who lived out in the country, shared hers with three other families. One phone line being used by all the teenagers in the neighborhood had to be a difficult situation, and I remember that we didn’t often share any secrets over the telephone because you never knew who might be listening. Since one line was shared by all the families, anyone could interrupt a conversation at any time, and anyone calling the party line would get a busy signal no matter which family was using the phone. I remember many interruptions by the older teens ranging from “Get off the phone, I’m expecting an important call” to “Get off the *@#% phone. NOW!”. Mrs. Kozisek never resorted to using naughty words, at least none that I heard, but there were several times when she politely asked me to hang up. I am ashamed to admit that I took my sweet time doing it, too. Finally, she just couldn’t take it any more. It was a sad day for my parents when they had to pay for a private line, but secretly, I was thrilled. I could stretch out that extra long telephone cord, sit on the top step, and talk for as long as I wanted. Down the street at her house, Mrs. Kozisek was probably doing exactly the same thing.

10 Responses

on October 13, 2014 at 7:21 am | Reply Janice Davis

I remember the party line. We lived in the country and shared ours with 4 other families. One of those people repaired clocks and always had a lot of them in his house. You could always tell when he was listening because you could hear the clocks. But, those were the good old days when life was slow and a lot more fun.

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- on October 13, 2014 at 8:20 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  It was, wasn’t it? Thanks for reading, Janice!
  
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on October 14, 2014 at 12:19 pm | Reply June

I would’nt miss a WEEK without reading the mn.farm woman. LOL LOVE IT!!!

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- on October 15, 2014 at 6:27 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Awww…thanks, June!
  
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on October 14, 2014 at 12:35 pm | Reply Larry Bell

My Aunt Mary was our small town telephone operator. I would pick up the phone and she would say “number please” If I forgot my friends number I would just ask her to put me through to Tommy and she would do it. Sometimes she would ask me to stop at our local grocer (Mr. Frank) and pick up some milk and cheese etc. we all had a tab, he would just write it down on a pad of paper and my parents would pay at the end of the week. Fond memories.

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- on October 15, 2014 at 6:27 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  My great-grandmother (pictured as the MFW) also had the switchboard in her home. That meant she could never leave without getting a “sitter”!
  
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on March 26, 2015 at 8:53 am | Reply Shirley Taylor

Oh yes,I remember!
I wonder how people would manage it nowaday! 🙂

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- on March 26, 2015 at 10:12 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Not at all! 🙂
  
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on March 26, 2015 at 9:46 am | Reply Joann Kilmer

Our phone was the old crank phone – with 8 on our party line – dad never understood how mom being a farm wife and never leaving the farm knew what she knew until he caught her one day – oops! Dad raised the roof, and said there was better things to do – so fine……………… mom worked, and I got on the phone – if you ever was going to find anything out – listen between 1 and 4 – the same two old sisters would be on the line – jabbering away…. and we still got the area news!!!! Funny now as I think about it- But it was not funny if dad wanted to use the phone and they were on there – in no uncertain terms dad asked to go visit one another and let the phone be open for others to use if they needed to – it subsided for a while, but all too soon they were back at it again… and you knew when they were on as you could hear ever ring! each party had their own significant ring – ours was 4 shorts( short rings) the neighbor was a long and 2 shorts. and of course variations there of…. Those were to good old days, and yes, our phone cord was a spiral one that stretched to the top of the stairs too – once we got the rotary phones.

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- on March 26, 2015 at 10:11 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Oh, great story!!
  
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