Before Cell Phones

[Julie's Haircut]

No, I didn't have my own phone line and didn't care. I suppose it was a bigger deal for girls than for boys.

One of my uncles had four daughters. There was a story that he got so fed up with the one line being constantly in use that he ripped the phone off the wall while one daughter was using it and threw it out the door. This was the days when phones were rented from Ma Bell so a repairman had to come out to install a new one.

 

[Diznygrl]

Nah, I've always hated talking on the phone so I had no desire to have one of my own, much less my own phone line. It was only after we had the internet for a while when we got a second line, one for the phone and one for the dial-up. Because having your internet connection immediately drop like a hot potato every time someone would pick up the phone receiver got old really fast.

I did actually have that same Garfield phone pictured in this thread, but it was a hand-me-down from a cousin and I never used it so I ended up just giving it back.

 

[WorldWacky]

I didn’t have my own phone line, but got a VERY fancy piano shaped phone for my 15th birthday. Super exciting!
My parents did, however, have their own 1-800 number. They got it so no matter where we were, we could call them if we needed them without needing change. (Remember the olden days...with PAYPHONES?!)

 

[ZephyrHawk]

We got a second phone line when modems and the internet started being a thing. It wasn't really my line, but it was connected to my phone.

 

[tcherjen]

I had my own line. I had a pink phone.

 

[NYCgrrl]

No, I didn't have my own phone line and didn't care. I suppose it was a bigger deal for girls than for boys.

One of my uncles had four daughters. There was a story that he got so fed up with the one line being constantly in use that he ripped the phone off the wall while one daughter was using it and threw it out the door. This was the days when phones were rented from Ma Bell so a repairman had to come out to install a new one.

Four females, one phone line and bathroom. Amazing the things you can do when "deprived". .

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I had a handset in my bedroom, but no separate phone line. My folks got tired of me stretching out the cord.

Same.

 

[MIGrandma]

Nope, no phone of my own.

We had one phone, on the wall, in the kitchen.

When I got married we had two phones. On the wall in the kitchen, and in our bedroom. We were on a party line for many years, hated that. It was wonderful when we could finally have a private line again. And I remember getting "call waiting" which was great for the kids.

Hard to believe phones have changed so much over the years.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

My favorite telephone my family owned was my godmother's - it was the old-fashioned box that you dialed the operator with. AND IT STILL WORKED!!!!

Also a variety of awesome rotary options. And a Mickey Mouse telephone - he was standing up, and the phone cradle was in his hand, so he was holding the phone out to you. We also had one of the first cordless phones so it had this stupid 3 ft antenna on it BUT it also picked up anyone else's cordless conversations in the neighborhood if you walked around the house and pointed it.

When I got my very OWN dedicated phone line, it was because after a year of fighting about dial-up internet and the busy signals it caused, my mother realized there was no winning. My computer had all the teens playing games on it... so at least we weren't out on the streets causing trouble right? Also there were several safety incidents with very very very very long extension lines...

And I covered a number of my own cordless phones with glittery nail polish because what teenaged girl DOESN'T do that?!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I did not have my own phone line, I had an extension in my room.

 

[runwad]

I got a chuckle reading this thread too.

Nope never had my own phone but the kitchen phone could stretch all the way into the little bathroom so it was my own little phone booth. We also had an extension in my parents room, and down in our finished basement.

I was always a talker, hours and hours. In fact I still love to gab on the phone. Not a cell phone though. I hate the way people sound on them, they break up, and they get hot. I still use a home phone over voip.

 

[brooke789]

View attachment 299538

This is the phone I bought to take to my college dorm room! Completely forgot about it until seeing this pic! Cool!

I never had my own phone line. Actually our house only had one jack even though it was built in the 90s (possibly late 80s). So, we just had the one phone in the kitchen.

ETA: My best friend had a line to share with her brother. Never knew anyone else with that so we thought it was really cool!