Can remember having party lines before that confusing rotary dial thingee...
Neighborhood gossip was at its zenith in those days...
Yes, our first phone was a party line. I remember them calling my mom complaining because my older brothers ands sisters were always on it with their friends.
The problem with 8 children and a two family party line.
The ones like Lum and Abner had. Earphone was on a car and the microphone was attached to the box. There was a crank on the side of the box that you cranked to ring the phone. We were on a twelve party line and each home had a custom ring. Two longs and a short as I recall was our ring, sadly when you rang one house you rang them all. Some things are better left in the past, freedom is not one of those things and as long as we old timers can remember what it used to be like, we can hold on a little bit longer.