[Danielle G.]

General Discussion Thread 14.05.2025​

Wednesday is knocking, and so is the SDC! How’s your week coming along? I visited my three-year-old niece who was playing with her toy telephone which still had that rotary dial design. It brought me back to those days when I would phone a friend to talk about homework (or our childhood crushes). What was your first phone call like? Were you laughing nonstop over silly jokes, or whispering to keep your call a secret? We promise not to tell, so feel free to share your memories here.

Image source: Annie Spratt / Unsplash

 

[RFG]

Mum & Dad with 5 daughters .....As kids we had our own phones, two tins with a long piece of string attached. We really thought that worked until we realized we yelled that loud into the tin, that you could hear clearly from the next room. As teenagers, we had to ask dad if we could use the phone and were always told to make it quick. If a boy rang any of us, well dad would tell them phone back another time. If you were lucky to chat to a boy at times, you had everyone listening in the lounge room where phone was connected. Some time later dad got an extension point in their bedroom, we thought we were rich people to have that. Only problem, it made listening in on our calls easier. Dad would often pick up on the other phone and interrupt saying to hang up, he was waiting on an important call. I do remember dad use to get a lot of phone calls. Back then you paid for every call you made and paid a lot extra for long distance (std) calls. The good old days.

 

[Hanker52]

My first phone call was on a phone mounted on the wall with 2 large batteries in it, We were on a party line so when you went to make a call you had to lift up the reciever handle to check if noone was on then if free give the handl a crank about 7-10 time to get through to the exchange where they would connect you, and when you finished you had to give the handle on the side 1 crank to ring off.

 

[VikB61]

Hi, Athena and everyone else. When I was quite young, probably about 4 I used the phone ( which was technically the business ph., the office to their service station, garage[mechanics] business was the glassed in verandah of the house we lived in. It was a black bakerlight ph. You picked up the receiver spun a little handle and the operator would ask for the number. I told her my name and that I wanted to speak to my grandparents at their 'the pub'. ( they were leasing one of the 4 hotels in the town) and she put me through!
We didn't have a home phone after we moved so in my teens I'd have to walk to the phone box about 5 minutes away, put in my 20c and sit on the floor of the booth and chat, mainly about our favourite bands and singers,(Marty Rhone, Mark Holden, Creedence, Bay City Rollers, just to name a few), weekend sports and yes crushes!
These calls included one a fortnight to my great grandmother in Adelaide and she too would chat with me about my favourite bands and which member I had a crush on.
Great times! Victoria

 

[Sherril54]

I cannot remember it!