“Come here, Watson…”
And, the rest, as they say is history! On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the very first telephone call to his assistant. The rest of the quote is “I want to see you.” Strangely enough, Bell refused to have a telephone in his home because he didn’t want the distraction! This month is the old question/answer format. I do hope you’ve all expanded a bit on your answers. I do love reading others’ because some people are just so doggone creative!
Without further ado…
- What kind of phone did you have when you were a kid…landline or cell phone?
- We definitely had a landline when I was a kid! In fact, until we moved in 2015, we still had a landline! It was the number I always put on things so we knew if someone called that number it was probably a telemarketer.
- Do you remember party lines?
- Maybe I should explain what a party line is for the younger people here! A party line involved several people who were on the same telephone line. They would have had different phone numbers, but only one person could access that line at a time. So, if you were on a party line, you just had to wait until the other person was done. My dad worked for the local telephone company which eventually became Sprint. Because of that, we had a free private phone line. But, my friends had party lines. They were both a blessing and a curse. They were a blessing because you could listen in on other folks’ conversations (not that I ever did that). The curse was you had to wait if someone was using the phone.
- What was your first cell phone?
- I had to ask Nigel about this one. I just remembered it was a big old blocky thing! He’s pretty sure it was a Nokia. I thought I was really something when I got one of those fancy phones that opened up so you could text with it. Nigel had the regular flip phone, but I had one of the more horizontal-y ones. It was red!
- Do you still have a landline?
- We do not have a landline. At first, it was a bit weird to not have an actual phone. But, now it’s just the way things are! It took me a bit to abandon my daughter of a phone guy roots! In fact, Nigel worked for the same phone company for a year or two right after we were married.
- Do you screen your phone calls?
- Not really. I obviously can see who is calling, and I actually do answer spam phone calls! Sometimes, I do that to just mess with them! I very rarely don’t answer my phone unless it’s on silent and I forget to change it back!
- What is the longest amount of time you’ve spent on the phone?
- I think maybe 3-4 hours. I had a couple of friends back when my kids were little and still napped, and we would talk for hours while our kids slept! Now, it’s rare for me to be on the phone for much longer than 20 minutes or so.
- What is your current phone?
- Ummm…let me go check! Well, my phone tells me it’s an iPhone 13 so I guess that’s what I’ve got!
- Do you use your smartphone only as a phone?
- Nope, I use it for Facebook, shopping, Instagramming, and a couple of apps. I’m not a big fan of apps. I don’t know why, but I try to keep them to a minimum. I used to try to keep my homescreen to only one page, but it’s now two. Of course, that means I have to constantly search for where I put some random app! Oh, I do use Pandora when I’m driving because my car is very low tech!
- When you were a kid, did you play “Telephone”?
- Hahaha!!! As an adult, I played “Telephone!” I think we played it a couple of times as an ice breaker at school meetings…not quite as fun as when we were kids!
- Does your significant other have a special ringtone?
- All of my significant people have special ringtones! Nigel’s is .38 Special “Second Chance.” That now makes me wonder what mine is on his phone…hold on, I’ll be right back! He’s so original! My ringtone on his phone is the same .38 Special song!
Wrap it up, Marsha!
I really enjoy visiting the other blogs to see how people answer these questions/prompts. I think we are all so different in how we approach them! For once, I didn’t struggle to answer any questions! I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not! So, can we talk? Did you find yourself going down Memory Lane a bit for some of these questions? Or, are you completely baffled by trying to figure out what a party line was? Please leave a comment or two, and we can talk! I promise to respond as quickly as possible!
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Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, My Bijou LIfe, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, The Grey Brunette, and Away from the Blue. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, and I do deClaire and Mummabstylish. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend with Michelle every Thursday. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!
And, now it’s your turn!
Please link up your favorite 10 on the 10th posts as well as baking, cooking, decorating, fashion, DIY! Please do visit some of the links! If you don’t have a blog, here is your chance to find a new one! You can also drop all or some of your answers in the comments!
What a great topic. I worked for British Telecom International for a couple of years and am very nerdy about phones, so I’ll have to write a post!
Oh, I just read your post, Gail! You have had some great experiences! I’m glad you enjoyed the questions!
well, I am old in my 70s so we only had a landline when I was young. Don’t remember party lines. My first cellphone was sort of a walkie talkie phone because my husband and I had a company where we found it easier to communicate this way. I still have a landline cause my special needs sister calls 9 or 10 times a day !!! and I need the cellphone for other calls. I do screen my calls, I get a lot of spam calls. I have some Motorola phone, don’t know, the cheapeast one we could find! lol The longest I have ever been talking on the phone must be over an hour and a half. I have a friend who will not stop talking! My husband does not have a cell phone. hates them. that is probably why we had the walkie talkie phones, since he felt we were not actually talking on a phone. I only use the smartphone for new, phone calls, and texts. and the weather!
I wonder if party lines were a regional thing as many people don’t remember them. I miss my landline phone because I think they have better connections. I’m glad you have yours to speak with your sister. Oh, and those spam calls…such a pain. They seem to come in waves. I don’t get them for a long time, and then I get a bunch!
Thanks, Linda, so much for coming by!
Funny – my mom worked for Bell Labs when I was a kid and we had a second phone line for her computer before that was a known thing!
Wow! That’s really cool, Dara! Because my dad worked for the phone company, we had a couple of phones (this was back in the 60s and 70s) so that was a big thing to my friends! But, a second line must have been really unusual at the time!
Thanks for coming by!
Thanks for explaining party lines! I didn’t know what they were! That would have been so weird. Lol.
I had one of those slide out phones that were horizontal too – I loved that one!
You’re very welcome, Erin! I figured lots of people wouldn’t have a clue what party lines were!
When I got that slide out phone, I thought I was one of the cool kids with texting and using the shift keys and all that!!! Oh, how things have changed!
Thanks, Erin, for coming by!
I had a nokia first too. It fell in the snow and I didn’t find it for a few days and it still worked! Those things were indestructible!
Wow! All I remember about them is how heavy they were! That’s amazing!
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Fun questions today! I, too, am a daughter of a phone guy! Love it!!:)
Thanks, Jennifer! I’m glad you enjoyed them. My husband actually worked for the same phone company when we were first married!
Marsha, I love that Nigel has the same song as your ring tone! That is adorable! These were super fun questions. I don’t even know what phone I currently have but my first cell phone fits a similar description as your first one! I only occasionally answer a spam calls but I usually just pick it up on speakerphone and walk away so they only hear the background noise!
Shelbee
Hahaha!! I used to do that with our landline because they couldn’t disconnect from that! Yeah, I thought we had different ones…but, I’m so used to the song now that I don’t want to change it! I’m glad you had fun with this one, Shelbee!
Fun questions! I tried to find my first cell phone to no avail. Maybe I actually threw it out (gasp)!
Hahaha!!! We always donated our old ones to women’s shelters as Mike worked with a woman who collected them. Otherwise, I hate to think how many we would have amassed since the beginning!
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Anne!
I had a landline all the way up to my divorce in 2020. Now I don’t miss it at all. Did not get an IPhone until 2021. I now do not know how I did not live without one.
It has been a cold wet spring in Arkansas. I am so looking forward to the heat and the sun. I love summer!
Wow! I am so surprised by that, Lisa! I would have figured you’d be all over the science behind the cell phone! The weather has definitely been strange. I think the amount of sunny days could be counted on my fingers and toes! Not many at all!
Thanks for commenting, my friend!
So funny about how thrilled we were with our first cell phones, and our first real “upgraded” cell phones, and kids just take it for granted now. LOL I remember thinking I was pretty special when I got a blackberry style smartphone. Oooooooh. haha. Thanks for hosting this fun link-up! It was a little trip down memory lane for me!
Oh, gosh, Kym! You are so right! I think we had one cell in the beginning and passed it around to whoever was going to be out. And, then you had to worry about how many minutes you had used! I had forgotten all about that! My husband never had a Blackberry, but he did have a pager!
Thanks for playing along!!
So I admit, I still have a landline! I know…what? But I don’t like talking on a cell phone for any length of time, so having a landline with a phone with a handset that is *shaped to work well with the arrangement of the human mouth and ears* is important to me when I’m going to be on the phone for a while. I do understand that there are alternatives with talking on a cell phone, but for the low price of the landline, I have stuck with what is comfortable and easy for me to do. I hope to join in on the next 10 on the 10th!
If I had my way, we’d have a landline, too! I think the reception is so much better, but someone didn’t think we needed one! I think one of my kids still has one for that same reason…it was cheaper to have the landline in the bundle than not! I do hope you join us in April…now, I need to figure that out!
Thanks, Sally!
I suppose it’s certain answers that get shared throughout that, very interesting ? Have a fabulous Friday and weekend.
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Thanks, Heather! Oh, you shared some really wonderful tips on how to use fuchsia! I love the platforms!
My mom even gave up her landline when she moved out here to AZ. And she was giving the women in her community a hard time because they still had them, haha.
It’s truly amazing how phones have evolved!!
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Before we moved in 2015, we had quite the collection of old phones. Mike took them into the recycling center where one of the guys was thrilled to get them! I can’t imagine Charlotte giving anyone (other than you) a hard time!
I had to check my phone to know what it was too; I usually have no clue about those kinds of things! We just gave up our landline a couple of years ago– I feel like I was one of the last people I know to still have one.
I know…it was really hard to give it up! I think it was because it seemed like the end of an era…well, it was, wasn’t it? I just knew I had an iPhone but no clue what number!
I’m finally joining in on the 10 On The 10th prompt. Great topic and questions, Marsha. And so many with tales about phone companies.
Rena
http://www.finewhateverblog.com
I’m glad you’ve joined, Rena! Yep, the telephone company was an important thing in my life. I remember getting to visit Dad at the phone company and see and hear all of those little clicky things! I loved the smell of it, too!
I have to admire the fact that you answer your phone regardless of whose calling. Old school! One of the best things about cell phone s for me is the ability to choose who I talk to. Fun topic!
Oh, I just love to spin a tale to those spammers! Of course, some of my people could also be calling from their job phones so I’m always worried it might be an emergency!
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Okay marsha here we go!
I had a landline when I was a kid. I got my first cell phone at 18 years old. I believe it was a Nokia too. A party line? what the heck that sounds awful. Never knew that was a thing. I never have had a landline as an adult. Can easily see who is calling so no screening necessary. Longest time on a phone would be 4-5 hours with my best friend. Now that we are both moms we may talk for a hour, if we are lucky. I have a Iphone 7, it’s pretty much a dinosaur now. Can you believe that’s what I use to take all my blog pictures? I am due for a upgrade. I use my phone for all kinds of stuff. I still play the telephone game! I can’t even think what my ringtone is nevermind my husband’s.
This is such a fun topic! My first cell phone was a bag phone; remember those? Lol. And I remember when we decided to get rid of our land line. At the time, it felt like such a risky decision. Love that 38 Special song!
Jill – Doused in Pink
Thanks, Jill! I do remember those bag phones! My brother-in-law had one, and our kids were so jealous of it! I know exactly what you mean about landlines…you feel like you’re cutting some kind of lifeline rather than a landline!
Nice topic you have shared.
https://www.worldviewcaptures.com/
My first cell phone was definitely a Nokia, too! And I had to “share it” with my mom because I was in high school and phones weren’t anywhere near as ubiquitous as they are today!
Such a cute post, Marsha! Thanks for sharing!
-Ashley
https://lestylorouge.com
Thanks, Ashley! I think we shared a cell phone, too, but I’m not sure. When I was teaching (and remember I retired eleven years ago), I had several fourth graders with cell phones already!
You and Nigel having the same songs for each other is so cute.
You know, I said my first cell was a Motorolla but now I’m thinking it may have been a Nokia. I remember the one phone I was really excited about getting was the Chocolate. It was the advertising. I was totally vested in them unwrapping that phone like it was a bar of chocolate.
Thanks, Daenel! I do remember those chocolate phones! I remember the advertising rather than actually having one!!
What a fun set of questions! I love Nigel’s ringtone. I remember call waiting. You should watch the video where two kids have to figure out how to dial on a rotary phone. It’s hilarious!
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
Thanks, Kathrine! I’ll have to go look for that video. I’ll bet it is hilarious!