# Jokes that, nowadays, need explaining **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [September 25, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466 "2020-09-25T02:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 45
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/882 "2020-12-11T23:09:40Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I think every local phone system had their own way of doing it. When I was a kid in our local telephone system, you just “0” for operator to request directory assistance. I have the vague recollection that 0 for operator would get you (1950’s, maybe 60’s) not only directory assistance, but also if you wanted it the correct time, or assistance in trying to figure out who you wanted to call (do I call the sheriff for this, or state police, or is there an animal control number? and maybe even ‘that department store in the middle of X town, I can’t remember their name’. That was probably already too late for ‘where is Joe Mechanic, he’s not answering his phone at home?’ ‘oh, he’s down at the diner now probably, I’ll ring the diner for you’; though I think that back when every small town had its own system you could do things like that.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/883 "2020-12-11T23:31:27Z")
I remember dialing 0 when I was three or four (1958 or '59) because I was bored and wanted to talk to someone, and decided to call the mother of a friend (probably because she was the only person I knew I could contact). When the operator came on line, I told her I wanted to talk to Reddy Kilowatt, the cartoon mascot of Northern States Power Company, which is where this woman (Jean) worked. The operator connected me to the NSP switchboard, and I said “I want to talk to Jimmy L\*\*\*\*\*\*\*'s mother.” Jean was surprised when she answered the phone, but we had a nice chat until my mother came into the room and asked who I was talking to. She didn’t believe I had actually called NSP until she took the phone and talked to Jean herself. She made a fuss about it when my dad came home that evening, but I couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal. I thought people talked on the phone like that all the time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/884 "2020-12-12T00:21:16Z")
When I was in college in the '60s, I needed to call the police to report the suicide of a housemate. I called “0” and the operator made the connection. There was no “911” at the time. And speaking of phones, how many people today know what a party line was? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/885 "2020-12-12T00:45:22Z")
They have one on _ **Green Acres** _. Anybody can listen in on your conversations. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/886 "2020-12-12T00:52:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And speaking of phones, how many people today know what a party line was? I first heard the Kinks song “Party Line” (from 1966) about 1985 and didn’t understand the song because I didn’t know what a “party line” was. There wasn’t such a thing at the time in Germany, and I’ve never heard if party lines ever existed here. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2pSbUEdTyW8/hqdefault.jpg "Party Line - The Kinks - 1965.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pSbUEdTyW8) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/887 "2020-12-12T00:59:01Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And speaking of phones, how many people today know what a party line was? You don’t really need your privacy, do you? Go ahead and talk about anything you want but listen in case there’s a click because your neighbor may decide to make a call…and eavesdrop on you. How about distinctive rings? > **[Distinctive ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distinctive_ring)** > > Distinctive ring, marketed under a variety of names, is a service offered by a telephone company that establishes additional telephone numbers on the same line as an existing number, each number ringing with a distinctive ringing pattern. Typically, the original number rings with the standard ring pattern that is common to the nation where the line is connected. Regardless of what ringing pattern the called party hears, the calling party hears the standard ringing pattern. > Adjunct hardware can b... ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/888 "2020-12-12T01:15:07Z")
My guess is that they probably did exist at one time, since they were a function of the primitive switching technology of early phone lines. I don’t have my copy of the relevant book handy, but I think British historian John Keegan talked about the French country estate where he spent his summers as a boy having one. If they had them in France, they must have had them in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/889 "2020-12-12T01:24:30Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Anybody can listen in on your conversations. Not anybody. Only other people on the same line. Or anybody who happened to be in the house of others who were on the same line. And, of course, the operator; who I think could listen in to anybody in their area. Close enough to “anybody” for most purposes, of course. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/890 "2020-12-12T01:25:42Z")
Yes, of course. It was one line serving an entire community, and you had to be on it to listen in. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/891 "2020-12-12T01:28:59Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It was one line serving an entire community I can’t guarantee that there was never one line serving an entire community, but the party lines I was familiar with didn’t do that; they might serve two or three houses, or maybe a bit more, but certainly not the whole community. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/892 "2020-12-12T01:31:40Z")
You had to subscribe to it, of course, but anyone could if they had the money, need, or desire. Just run a new line to your house, and you’d be on. I assume it would be cheaper than having your own private line installed, too. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/893 "2020-12-12T01:37:51Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Huh? Jiggling the hook (or the buttons on the hook) to alert an operator was still a thing in the '60s? I have a theory that people tend to think in terms of decades. So they’d think “Oh, jiggling the buttons to talk to an operator, and party lines, those was part of the 50s”. But when people talk about the 60s (Beatles, hippies, protests) they’re really talking about '64 to '72. The early 1960s had more in common with the 1950’s… and we had to listen for a certain ring at my grandmother’s house. If it was two quick rings, we should answer the phone (“McGillicuddy’s residence, this is Digby McGillicuddy, happy to fetch _whom_ever you’d like to speak to!”). If it was one long ring at a time, we should ignore it. But of course if we picked up the receiver to make a call, half the time there’d be a conversation going on. Then we had to try again later, _or…_ listen in quietly. We soon learned there were no robbery plans being made, no spy passwords, no juicy affairs, just the grandma at the farmhouse down the road complaining about the weather. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/894 "2020-12-12T01:40:09Z")
I’ve been listening to old episodes of **My Favorite Husband** (the radio precursor to **I Love Lucy** ) and a recurring joke is Liz needing to use the phone, but it’s busy because two neighbors are gossiping and they never believe her excuses. I found it odd Liz & George don’t have a private line since he’s the 3rd VP of a bank and they have a live-in maid, but then again they probably have a party line just for the sake of comedy. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/895 "2020-12-12T01:42:27Z")
I’ve heard of party lines of 30 households. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/896 "2020-12-12T01:43:56Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You had to subscribe to it, of course, but anyone could if they had the money, need, or desire. Just run a new line to your house, and you’d be on. > > I assume it would be cheaper than having your own private line installed, too. Yes, party lines were cheaper than individual private lines. But they still weren’t the whole community; unless maybe it was a really tiny community. I never heard of there being hundreds or thousands of households on the same line, or even dozens; and I doubt it would work – there would be too much interference with any particular call, and whenever you picked up the phone to call anybody you wouldn’t be able to get through because someone else would already be using the line. Or if you’d been the lucky one who did connect you’d never be able to have a conversation, because of other people breaking in asking you to get off the line so they could talk. > [@alphaboi867](#): > > I found it odd Liz & George don’t have a private line since he’s the 3rd VP of a bank and they have a live-in maid, but then again they probably have a party line just for the sake of comedy. Probably; but I think there were some areas that only had party lines. > [@needscoffee](#): > > I’ve heard of party lines of 30 households. Wow. That’s the biggest I’ve heard of; and I bet it was hard to make a call, unless everyone on the line was in the habit of making only short ones; which is possible. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/897 "2020-12-12T02:54:47Z")
I’m intrigued. Where were you living back then? This sounds nothing like my experience in the urban Midwest (USA) of the late '50s and 1960s. For that matter, where and when were these 30-household party lines in use? Of course, it would have to be a small community for the lines not to be jammed sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/898 "2020-12-12T03:22:29Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’m intrigued. Where were you living back then? This sounds nothing like my experience in the urban Midwest (USA) of the late '50s and 1960s. Aha, the “urban” is the key. We lived in the “Urban Midwest (USA) of the late '50s and 1960s”, where I bet no one had ever heard of a party line. But a half hour of _over the river and through the woods,_ and we were in the Rural Midwest. My grandma lived in the middle of farm land, with a lot of things I’d never seen before: an outhouse, a root cellar, a pot bellied stove, a metal bread box, and a party line. Oh, and when she took us kids on her big trip “to town”, the butcher shop had a dirt floor with two inches of wood shavings “to catch all the blood, dear.” “Ewww, grandma!” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/899 "2020-12-12T03:36:00Z")
My folks had a party line in suburban NJ into the 1970s if I recall correctly - when we moved to rural middle of nowhere land in the middle 70s we got a private line… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/900 "2020-12-12T05:52:43Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > For that matter, where and when were these 30-household party lines in use? Of course, it would have to be a small community for the lines not to be jammed sometimes. I learned about it at a Telephone Museum in an old converted telephone switching station. [https://www.telcomhistory.org/connections-museum-seattle/](https://www.telcomhistory.org/connections-museum-seattle/) It was unusual to have a 30-household party line, but in very rural areas it was occasionally done. 10-household party lines were more common. Here’s from an [Adirondack almanac](https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2017/04/telephone-history-party-lines-were-once-high-entertainment.html): > During that time, various manifestations of party lines were the norm everywhere. They served from two to twenty parties, and in most systems each party had a certain ring, which was actually a mix of short and long rings. Each family had to know their own code so they could answer calls directed to their home. [Here’s a 10-party line](https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=37281732&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjY4Mjk2NzY1LCJpYXQiOjE2MDc3NTIxNTUsImV4cCI6MTYwNzgzODU1NX0.ivz8Z86e8D9jwbtu_jkbSo4nr6S2RlLzN8ztUQlpLx8) with pricing. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466/901 "2020-12-12T06:27:36Z")
That page makes fascinating reading, and not just because of the telephone ad. I especially like the column about what was happening in Germany at the time. I had to check out the difference between “copper metallic” and “grounded” circuits just to satisfy my curiosty: > **[Grounded & Metallic Telephone Circuits](https://nshdpi.ca/is/tele/telcirc.html)** > > A description of metallic versus grounded circuits — the two basic types of telephone circuits used in the period 1880s to 1920s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=44) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jokes-that-nowadays-need-explaining/921466.md?page=46)