Computers and Telephones

I am constantly amazed at the magic of computers and telephones. I realize they are objects made of materials with qualities that transform frequencies, magnetism and, god only knows what else, into wonderful machines that control and regulate all manner of things; electricity, graphics, and fuel consumption. They even control space. As tools of business and governments, today’s computerized phones have a capacity for knowledge and communication that seems endless. Videos, music, games and calculators, can all be encapsulated inside a mini phone that can be held in one’s hand.

I remember when my sister Adeline and I had play conversations using old wooden wall phones with bells that Dad brought home from the telephone office where he worked. They were beyond repair, but made wonderful toys. From time to time he would also bring insulators that were used to attach wires to telephone poles. They were solid, heavy pieces of colored blue or green glass, about the size of a man’s fist.

When we lived in the old Victorian house on Bliss Blvd in Iowa Falls, the phone was a black wall model in the dining room next to the entrance to the kitchen. I could stand on tip toe to talk into the mouth piece but Adeline had to stand on a stool. When Mom let us phone the grocery store with an order for the morning or afternoon delivery, we raced to be the first one to the phone, because the winner often had permission to add a treat to the order.

Our house phones were usually black wall phones, centrally located on the first floor of the various houses we lived in. The ringing of the bell was loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the house or yard. If the phone rang during the night, one had to go down stairs to answer it. The only way to keep a conversation from being overheard was to talk very softly or use the phone when no one was around.

When making a call, operators asked “number please” and made the connection. You could hear the phone ringing at the other end but after so many rings, the operator would come on line and tell you there was no answer. Many times we didn’t bother to use a phone number; we just told the operator who or what business we wanted. The intimacy of a small town was lost in the larger cities but you could call ‘information’ to ask the operator to look up the number and to ring it for you. In old movies you often see and hear people making phone calls like we used to.

Eventually we graduated to black table phones with 25 foot cords, which let us walk around as we talked or carried it to a comfortable place to sit while talking. The first colored phone I saw was Grandma A’s pink princess phone. It wasn’t much more than a receiver resting on a base of the same size.

At Hillcrest, our house in Redwood City, the phone was in a private booth paneled in mahogany wood. It was located in the middle of a long hall dividing the day rooms from bedrooms. If the conversation was a long one, it got rather stuffy with the door closed. If anyone was using the phone when a call had to be made, a knock on the door was a signal to finish.

I remember sitting in that booth for hours talking to my husband. He was in New York waiting to be shipped over seas during WWII. We never knew if our conversation would be the last until the end of the war, but as the week progressed, he was able to phone me 3 or 4 more times. During those evenings I monopolized the phone. It was difficult to make phone connections from the east coast to west coast; consequently, I was on pins and needles until the phone rang. The family was very considerate and gave me total use of the phone when he called.

Telephones became such a part of daily life after the war families began to have more than one phone in the house; bedrooms, kitchens and even bathrooms. A late night phone call no longer indicated an emergency or bad news. Long distance calls were no longer limited to holidays and teens got their own phones.

Now you can leave a message if the party you are calling isn’t home or doesn’t want to answer the phone. In fact you don’t even have to use a phone to chat. You can use your computer and choose Instant Messaging or Voice mail. I have a cell phone that has every bell and whistle imaginable. It’s private, and I can wear it around my neck on a ribbon. I don’t know if I have a computer with a phone inside or a telephone with a computer inside. It’s all magic to me!