Glossary.
Rotary-Dial Phone. When I grew up (back in the dark ages), it was not required to define a telephone as rotary-dial. This was the only option. Using this phone required one to place an index finger (sometimes, to prevent damage to human appendages, a pencil was used) into a circular dial mounted on the base. Each number had its own hole. Making a call was done one number at a time while then waiting for the dial to complete its rotation.
Corded phone. This was also the standard for all homes. The phone was physically bolted to a wall. The distance you could ‘travel’ while talking on the phone was limited by the length of a curled plastic cord which connected the handset to the phone appliance. A private conversation was completely dependent on the authority of the person using it. If you had the power, you could banish others to locations that would prevent eavesdropping. If you had no power, well even a whisper would not prevent the entire household from knowing your business.
Princess Phone. This was an amazing piece of optional equipment. Although costly, this phone could be moved from room to room if phone jacks were available. Produced with an oval shape it was even possible to order various pastel colors!
Payphone. This marvelous invention allowed users to make calls when one was NOT at home.
Party line. Understandably difficult for many of you to believe, but sometimes households shared the same phone number. Yes, the phone could be announcing a caller in your house and be ringing in a house down the street at the same time. If there was an emergent reason for one to make a call while the line was in use, a Telephone-Exchange Operator would interrupt the party-line and demand that they release the phone for your emergency. If you were very clever, you could listen to their calls anytime you want. Of course, that was a two-way street.
Long-distance Calling. The phone company charged extra for calls made to a number outside of its defined territory. No wasted words were allowed. And if possible, one would wait until after 10:00 PM because it was cheaper than daytime calls. It was possible to avoid paying these charges if you were a planner. My mother moved from St. Paul to White Bear Lake after getting married. They would make arrangements to call when they got home to let everybody know they made the 10-mile trip safely. They would call twice but it would not be answered. Both times, the call would ring once and be disconnected. In that way, the code was received - all is well. The very first US direct (without Operator assistance) long-distance call was made only months after I was born and was connected with a lightning speed of 18 seconds.
Reverse Charges. This was another trick used by some. If a call needed to be placed, you could ask the operator to charge the called number rather than the calling number thus 'reversing' the charges as the name implies.
Today's article started when I noticed the payphone pictured here.
I thought about making a long-distance call from a payphone when I was young. Calling home from one of these devices could be costly depending on the territory locations of the payphone and the home phone. Reverse charges were frequently used because well, who has a pocket full of nickels, dimes, and eventually quarters?
I was also considering the distance between myself and God. I'm guessing He would be happy to accept the outrageous charges if I was required to use something like a payphone in an emergency. I am guessing I would also not have to evaluate each word to avoid spending any more time on the line than absolutely necessary.
As a child, I used to think about calling God. It was such amazing technology! But later, I discovered that technology wasn't needed to reach out. At the time of the death of Jesus, the curtain that closed off the
Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom signifying that now everyone has access to God's presence.
And even today I was reminded when reading the story of
Zacchaeus. Despite his standing in a community that despised him for collecting Roman taxes, he climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus walking by. He was called down from the tree and was invited to host dinner for the Creator of the universe.
No phone needed.
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