I would guess that this is not entirely representative of LD charges of the day because of the hop from the mainland to Hawaii, which had to increase the cost significantly.
Speaking of the old-style manual switchboards, my college had one (similar to this one) up until the early 1980s, and one of my campus jobs (briefly) was working on it. I feel incredibly privileged to have had that experience. When a call came in, you threw a 3-way rocker switch to answer it. The caller asked for an extension, and you picked up the cord for the incoming line, touched the tip of the plug to the outer rim of the extension’s jack to make sure the line wasn’t already engaged by an outgoing call (you’d hear a click if it was), plugged it in, and then pushed the button underneath to ring the phone. (It wasn’t an automatic ringer: it rang just when you pushed the button.) A light would go on when someone picked up, and once it went out (the call was over) you disconnected the line.
A classmate of mine told me a couple of weeks ago that when the college finally went to a modern phone system in the mid-1980s, the phone company guys who uninstalled the old one were amazed to see such an old piece still working, and took it away to put in a museum.
I worked for an answering service in Boulder, CO back in the late 70s. We had an old plug board. It was replaced shortly after I left by the more modern kind. It was very weird.
In the early eighties, I worked for Lutheran Child and Family Services downtown as a volunteer - the switchboard there was an old plug type too. When I left there and went on to work at other places, the new technology I saw in some of them “modern offices” scared the bejeezus outta me.
Of course, these days, you would call the 800 number on the package or product, or look it up online and call them to get the fuse number.
No 800 numbers in the Mayberry RFD days.
I’m of that age (old, of course!) where long distance calls were a big deal. I use my cell phone, but I do think twice about it. I have to tell myself that it’s okay - I have the minutes and free long distance, so I can use it, and it’s okay.
Calling long distance was a big deal when I was a kid. It was expensive - we’d always call on weekends or after 9:00.
We used to call my grandparents once or twice a month. You knew right away when you picked up the phone that it was long distance - there was an audible hum that wasn’t there for local calls.
