I saw on the news a while back, that some old lady had been paying rent (to her phone co.) for a rotary dial phone she’d had installed in 1956! It made me wonder-are there stillpeople using these things? Why?
How about a rotay-dialcell phone? That would be cool! Seriously, why are we still paying extra for touch-tone service?
I have a working rotary phone in my basement, of all places. The previous homeowner apparently was a Mr. Fix-It, and the basement was his workshop. So he rigged a phone down there so he wouldn’t miss it when it rang. I’ve never even used the thing, myself.
My sister has a rotary phone downstairs. She took it with her when she moved, so she’s no longer paying rent on it (I don’t know how that would work anyway). But the phone still works.
My mom also took the rotary phone that she and my dad used all through their marriage. Last I checked, it still worked. But she doesn’t currently have it hooked up.
Cry more, n00b!
My aunt and uncle still only have rotary phones, that’s right, no touch tone. They, obviously, are a little behind the technology curve.
Um, what?
My mom’s friend has a rotary phone. It works rather well for being 40 years old. I’m amazed that some of this stuff has held up over the years.
My mother still has a rotary dial phone… it’s actually the main phone in the house. The two extensions are new phones. It’s a pain in the ass when you need to use the phone from ANY room other than the (now disused, since I moved out) spare room, or her bedroom.
The reason she has it still? It’s too much work to remove it. My trying-to-be-helpful-but-failing-miserably-at-being-a-handyman father hardwired it to the line, rather than using an adapter.
As to what Captain Xex had to say, I can honestly say that I feel better for having seen what promises to be his only post here.
I have a rotary phone in the living room. It works just fine, and it’s fun to watch people try to remember how to use it on those rare occasions I have someone over who needs to use a phone. The funny thing is, I pulled this thing out of dad’s garage. I was in an antique store today and they had one just like it for $99.
2/3 cups butterscotch flavored morsels
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
8 1/2 ounces 2 cans chow mein noodles
7 ounces miniature marshmallows
Line trays with waxed paper.
Microwave chips in large, microwave-safe bowl on medium-high power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Stir in peanut butter until well-blended. Add chow mein noodles and marshmallows; toss until all ingredients are coated. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared trays. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Double boiler method:
Melt morsels over hot (not boiling) water; stir until smooth. Remove from heat; stir in peanut butter. Transfer to large bowl. Add chow mein noodles and marshmallows; proceed as above.
I’ve been looking for a rotary-dial phone, one of the older ones that had curved sides rather than straight. They’re surprisingly difficult to find when you want one.
If anybody’s got one they’re willing to part with, or knows where I could get one, I’d appreciate having a line dropped. My email’s in my profile.
I do, and it is hooked up. I just rarely use it because of how much of a pain it is.
Oh, not quite the one you are looking for racin.
Gads, yes! My mother still uses 2 of 'em – the heavy black kind – one’s in the den and the other in the kitchen. Her reasoning? “They don’t make stuff like they used to…”
I recall a story fairly recently of a first-grade teacher who brought a rotary-dial phone to her class, and plunked it down in front of her six-year-old charges. Not one of them could figure out how to use it to make a phone call. They kept putting their fingers into the number holes and pushing. Not surprising, really, but it made me feel old.
I wonder how long it will take for the expression “dial the phone” to disappear from the language.
My girlfriend just bought one at a thrift shop yesterday. Works like a charm, and is as heavy as a cinder block.
You know, I have a feeling that there are a decent amount of people my age (I’m a junior in college) who probably wouldn’t know how to use a rotary phone. That’s really depressing.
[sub]I remember when I was at “the old house”, probably 4 or 5 years old, and Dad taught me how to dial the phone (rotary, of course), AND how to crack open an egg, all in the same day!![/sub]
zweiskameit, I’m pretty much your age - I’m supposed to be a sophomore in college, but I, shall we say, “took a year off” - and I think most people our age would figure out how to use a rotary phone… but they’d be damned confused about it.
I don’t think the phrase “dial the phone” will go out of use, because there’s not really any other term to use. People will just completely forget how it came about.
Whoops. Sorry for misspelling your name, zweisamkeit.
My only phone is a rotary phone. I operate on the “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” principle. When it dies I’ll get a touch tone though. Recently my third-grade nephew saw his other aunt, my sister, using it. With a puzzled look on his face he asked “How do you work that?”