That would have defeated the purpose, though: he wanted to be able to hear it ring when he was outside. (And it had to be a second phone, because there was no way to unplug the first one to move it.)
That may well have been how they caught on; I doubt he would have known that, though I was about 10 at the time and I’m not clear on all the details. – for one, it occurs to me that I have no idea where he got the second phone.
And, don’t forget to ask the attendant for a free road-map.
Google Maps may make a mistake every once in a while, but it sure beats having an unfolded road-map nearly obliterating your view of the windshield, while you try to figure out where the hell you are.
Which reminds me of another thing which seems to no longer be much of a thing, but certainly was when I was a kid: stopping at a gas station (or when you see a local out in their yard) to ask for directions.
I remember watching a science show that showed someone making a map using a very complicated looking machine where they were tracing contours or roads using crank handles for each axis, looking through a lens, and basically tracing over aerial photographs, presumably through a prism mirror.
They still make them.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012F0DGYE/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_B9PM8J9YR3Z4T430ZWTM
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JPWYXVT/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_NAY5JG84YMBTSM6CZYD1
Although younger people probably won’t recognize them, being used to listening to Pandora or Spotify on their smartphones.
I still do this pretty frequently. Most recently when we were looking for a lake in Hiram, Maine, and the GPS kept taking us higher and higher up a hill.
Offtopic, I remember a game like that from about 50 years ago. I was surpised to find a version on Steam a while back. Vectors on Steam
Buying an encyclopedia at the grocery store, one volume at a time. Now, kids have this thing on their phones called a “Wikkypedia”, or somesuch.
When you had a can of HiC, you needed a separate tool called a “can opener” to make a hole in the top to pour it out. Also, please explain “Hawaiian Punch”.
You’re not supposed to read the map while you’re driving.
And at least on a paper map all the road names don’t disappear when you try to see more than a square mile or so at a time.
ETA: Google maps are good for zooming in for details, or for satellite or street view. But I find paper maps much better for general orientation.
And the connection never goes down.
Yes.
Falling asleep with the radio under the pillow, listening to KOMA or WLS.
Some kind of pantograph? pantograph - Google Search
But people did.
They browse the net and answer texts and so on while they’re driving, too.
It’s not a problem unique to old technology.
Remember these bastards when you needed to put oil in your car?
Hmm, now I’m thinking this may be the reason for my inordinate number of accidents, and $25k monthly auto insurance premiums…
Kidding. I’ve always been a safe driver. Road-maps are awkward, however.
My parents purchased quite a few grocery store books when I was a kid. Loved them! My favorite was a science & technology encyclopedia, whose name eludes me. I’d read each volume cover to cover, then eagerly await the next volume. I still own quite a few encyclopedias, including Funk & Wagnalls (of Laugh-in notoriety), but haven’t picked one up in decades. Dr. Seuss books were also purchased on timed subscription. Just another thing I wish kids today could experience.
Better Pantograph link Pantograph - Wikipedia
Agreed. But the guy looking at the map while driving was a cliché of the era, just like the texter of today
That’s why you go to AAA and get a trip-tik
It may have depended on where you were- but I know there were 3 phones all with the same number in the house I grew up in in the '60’s and two of the phones had been there since the fifties. The phone company knew about the two phones that were on the first floor and the basement in the fifties - they didn’t know about the one in my parents bathroom that was in the bathroom because that was where they were able to run the line from my grandparent’s phone on the first floor. I had strict instructions to never disclose that there were three phones in the house because the phone company only knew about two .
( I always laugh when I think of how these people who installed an illegal phone and pulled collect call shenanigans to avoid paying for long distance calls were renting a phone from the phone company until the mid-ninetes)
Trip-tik? Sorry, but I have no desire to engage in any sort of mind-bending, LSD Timothy Leary type trip, driving in my Honda!
Kidding. I’ve used AAA TripTik. They’re OK.