"call me"

It's a bit hard to believe that there are actually pictures of me talking on the phone as a young girl. I'm not entirely sure who I was talking to but more than likely it was one of my young friends who I attended Sunday School with. Growing up in the country I learned very young from my mom that relationships were conducted over the phone during the week. On Sundays I often was invited to a friends house for the afternoon and then play together until it was time to go to the evening service.


Last week I enjoyed Heidi's post on her phone phobia, it reminded me that I had pictures of myself practicing the art of phone conversation.

In those early years we shared a party line with unknown people on our road. I say unknown because I was never informed who was clicking the phone on and off while I was in an important call. I do remember my mom talking on the phone and saying . .to the unknown person . .I'll be off in a few minutes .. . please hang up the phone. I had been instructed to not say anything like that but rather give the unknown people use of the line when I heard the clicking begin.

Once I became a young teen and began to entertain my friends on the phone things got more serious and since the phone was still firmly attached to the wall I would face the wall and wear a hooded robe to ensure some privacy. Our phone was located in the center of the house and I don't recall ever been given the option of privacy.

(by the way .. I made that gorgeous hooded robe. . .what ever possessed me to buy that hideous fabric I'll never know).


Then at fifteen I got myself a boyfriend from a town 20 minutes away.

The conversations went from long to very long. They were both exhausting and exhilarating. My parents had no problem with me having dates on the phone since I think they found the conversations entertaining to say the least.

We perfected those phone conversations over the four and a bit years that we dated.



Looking closely at the picture now .. . I believe I'm wearing Seafarer jeans and I actually think that pink top is quite cute too. Hmm .. .and not to toot my own horn .. .but I would like to point out that the back of my arms look quite slender and without any wings at all.

I must have still been in high school since I see I had a pen in my back pocket. Obviously I was taking a much needed break from home work.


These days, I'm blessed with a cordless phone.

No longer tied to the wall, I'm happy to pay for all the phone services that our phone company offers. Call display keeps the unwanted salesmen at bay, call alert allows me to monitor incoming business social calls and thereby keeping me organized .
The automatic answering service gives me immediate important info if one of my friends wasn't able to reach me on my cell while I was out.

I have learned the art of doing most domestic things while having the best chats ever.

There is very little I am restricted from doing while talking on the phone.
We still live in the country and running across the street isn't a quick option .. . so I've memorized the essential home and work numbers of my confidants. I can dial some of those numbers quicker than speed dial.
What would I have done without my closest phone companions over the years is nearly mind bloggling. We've shared our hearts, worked out our differences, called day and night with the best possible or worst possible news and sometimes just whittled away at a boring day.

Writing a post while having a phone conversation still poses a challenge and I think I may sound a bit distracted and my friends can likely hear the clicking .. .so I try to keep my blogging separate from phoning.


Oh and by the way .. .to the wedding .. .I wore the purple coat with the purple strappy sandals.


Have a wonderful day my friends,
my knee is feeling quite well this morning,
my pedometer is firmly attached . ..
and I'm off for my walk ..

Comments

  1. Ah! Party lines. Rather than clicking when you wanted the phone if you lifted the receiver and held the rotary dial partly turned it would cut off the other party. Holding for just half a min. was enough time for them to believe the phone was out of order and hang up. Then you could make your call. If there was someone as interesting as you on the line then you could take off the receiver, while holding down the button, unscrew the mouthpiece, and remove the thing inside. Then release the button and the talking party wouldn't hear any "click" or interference and you could listen in without notice. Not that I ever did that.

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  2. That fabric and robe was pretty dreadful. But how clever of you to use it as a make do phone booth.
    I remember having a party line for a few years, maybe until I was six or so. And that our phone number began with Glencourt, which later became 459. I ask people my age and older what the prefix of their phone number was, and they all remember. B.'s was Hopkins...I wonder who came up with those names.
    I'll bet some of the "romantic" phone calls were hilarious for your brothers to overhear!

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  3. I too love a good phone conversation. Since I'm living in Germany right now I have to keep up with friends and family either by phone or email. While I appreciate the convenince of email, it can be such a one sided conversation and after a while I'm not sure what else to say. Phone conversations have become a lifeline for me to everyone back home. And, I would agree that the fabric was pretty hideous, but don't we all have those "unforunate" fashion choices in our lives? Have a good day, Lovella and Happy Walking.

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  4. Oh how well I remember my mom and aunt living through the frustrations of neighbours listening in on their conversations. Enjoy your blogs.

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  5. Those pictures are great! The hood idea is hilarious!!!

    I'm not a great fan of talking on the phone, but blogging helps to take the place when I can't see my friends very often.

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  6. I'm not much for talking on the phone - I think it came from that year of working in customer service and taking calls from all those dissatisfied customers. Eeek.

    Regarding Jill's comment, our phone prefix was Murray. I heard once how they came up with those names, but that's info I've long since forgotten.

    We didn't have a party line when I was young, but my grandmother and my aunts/uncles all did. It irritated me to hear the phone ringing and ringing only to be told, "Ignore it, that's not our ring." And when I was on the phone and the clicking started, well, I probably wasn't very polite to the other party...mainly because I was a preteen/teenager and my calls were private!

    Cute photos!

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  7. Cousin James. . . .that info is so invaluable. . . too bad it's about 40 years too late.
    Who told you all those tricks anyways?

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  8. Ah yes...party lines. How offended we would all be these days to eaves droppers, and impatient clickers. Seafarer jeans- a must have in our days. The fit was perfect! And the arms. Oh my! My daughter and I were just laughing about my 'bangles' this past week. I asked her if she remembered Grandma's 'soft arms.' We chuckled as the memory brought warm memories of stuggling with a sweet Grandma. It was at that moment my 'bangles' (makes it sound more like and adornment) took on a new perspective for me. My Grandkids will think I'm soft like a Grandma should be. Who wants to snuggle into somthing hard and firm anyways!? I think I just have made your bangle adorned grandma readers feel good about that soft stuff. PS always love our phone calls. Kathy

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  9. I found that rather interesting about party lines. I can still clearly hear that clicking noise, cuz I remember my Dad doing that when he needed the phone to call the vet.
    Thank-goodness for technology and those cordless phones.
    Just don't go to the toilet and flush because you might get caught.

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  10. Lovella~ You are hereby, formally, and officially invited to come to the virtual Painting the Town Red party over at my blog....
    Everyone is invited!!!

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  11. lovella..........i love your phone post. i am a phone kinda girl.......working on a crisis line counselling on the phone is way better than in person, (for me anyway). i just had a 1 1/2 hr phone call from germany from my beloved ellie. i just can't share my heart the same way in the written word as the spoken word.
    the fabric might be somewhat left to be desired on your robe, but it sure looks comfy....oh to have been a fly on the wall at that time chatting with your beloved........hmm was it mr.t?

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  12. I was a teenager in the sixties and I remember the party line. Even though we had a big house, we had just one phone and it was in the kitchen. That way my mother could still cook and wash dishes while chatting with her sister. They weren't long distance, but at set intervals, the line would disconnect. All they would do is just redial and talk another 15 minutes. My girlfriend and I worked out a secret language code so that we could say private things without eavesdroppers, either on the party line or in the same room, knowing what was being said. The kids of today have no clue how devious their parents had to be. I really enjoyed your post and it brought back great memories!

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  13. It is pretty incredible that such evidence of your love affair with the phone is in existence. That middle photo of the shroud is so cute! Ha!

    I was allowed precious little phone time...perhaps that's why I loathe talking on the phone to this day.

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  14. I was sorry we didn't see you in your purple coat and strappy sandals wedding outfit ! I'm really glad you didn't consider wearing the shroud!!!

    Yes.. the phone... oh.. your photo of the phone on the wall brought back memories.. at the time we NEVER dreamed the wall phone would evolve to what we have today !

    I agree with you . .without the phone I'm sure I would never have survived !!! EVEN with the party line complications... Smile

    And James... I don't believe for a minute that you never tried out your phone 'tricks'!! (big sister)

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  15. Oh my how sweet that someone thought to take photos of you on the phone. The first one is great with that old wall phone! Oh and I remember party lines, can you imagine that now?! We also used to have phone numbers like PA71850 Letters and numbers. Fun post Lovella..

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  16. I'm still shocked your parents let you have a boyfriend as a fifteen year old. I remember being told that girls that started having boyfriends before they turned sixteen would just wind up getting married young, right out of high school.
    Guess "they" were right...and sometimes getting married right out high school ain't such a bad thing!

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  17. Lovella,
    Thanks for the note on the blog. We miss you too. I've just been catching on up a few of your posts. Are you feeling better? Did we miss your birthday this year? I remember when you got that orchid ... hmmm. Happy belated, if we did. Talk later!

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  18. I also had many "wall phone" dates with my "then future" hubby. The phone was in the centre of the house in the hallway, luckily right by the bathroom. I would pull the chord into the bathroom
    and enjoy the private conversations with a closed door.
    We also worked out a secret code ... when my boyfriend left Vancouver late at night and drove to Abbotsford I was concerned that he make it home OK, so he would ring once to let me know that he was home. I don't know how often my dad jumped up to get the call at midnight, but never asked me about it. The secret didn't come out until we were married, with young kids. My dad, who loved saving pennies, began asking us to ring once, when we made it back to Abbotsford. A sweet memory of my dad who is gone 1 year this month.

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  19. Now that brings back memories! Party lines...most annoying, but I quite enjoyed listening in on our teenage neighbour as she 'dated' her boyfriend on the phone! We were on the Sycamore exchange, which meant we had a 5-digit number preceded by SY. The SY became '79' and is still part of our number...now it is preceded by the area code. Some things are simpler...some more complicated!
    I am amazed that someone took pic's of you on the phone...my parents would not have wasted 'film' on such unposed shots. Priceless! And Seafarer jeans...we used to go to Bellingham to stock up.

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  20. that is a great trip down memory lane and great pictures to accompany it. wow. how times have changed, hey? love james' tidbits and yeah, i could've used those when i was 9 years old ... little too late now. :)

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