The Diecast Zone · Model Car Club Since 1997
Diecast Collector Forums
Eight forums, every scale, and thirty years of shop talk — new arrivals, restorations, reviews, and the finds you won’t see posted anywhere else, with the full archive back to 2002 restored and searchable. Free to Register.
8Forums
195,000+Topics
1,276,000+Posts
10,000+Members
1997Research From
Notifications
Clear all
The Lounge
17
Posts
9
Users
88
Reactions
2,189
Views
05/04/2025 8:49 am
Priceless! Yep, remember them well. The speaker from the outdoor movie, the 3D Viewmaster slide viewer and the rotary phone that had a party line.
05/04/2025 11:56 am
What, no ice box or wash board?!
John Bono
North Jersey
05/04/2025 12:37 pm
... I do remember when having TWO phone lines in ONE house was a big deal! Today, of course, having ANY phone lines in the house is a big deal - most rely solely on their smart phones.
05/04/2025 1:19 pm
Yes I remember all of these and no I haven't taken a picture of anything today.
05/04/2025 1:21 pm
Compare the monthly telephone bill between now and then!
05/04/2025 2:25 pm
Compare the monthly telephone bill between now and then!
Remember the Leave it to Beaver episode in which the boys called Don Drysdale long distance? Ward became extremely upset with the Beev knowing that he was responsible for a $13.00 phone bill - $9.35 of which was long distance charges.
- Didn't the phone company once provide FREE phones? Years ago, didn't the Electric Company provide FREE light bulbs?
05/04/2025 5:41 pm
Commonwealth Edison, electric company in Chicago, did provide free light bulbs. We could get 4 each month. My mother always got the free 4 bulbs. Today, I am still using our stock pile of 75 and 100 watt bulbs. Actually, I think they are labeled as 77 and 102 watts.
Regarding the phones, I do not think we owned them. They were provided by the phone company for our use. For us this was Illinois Bell.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
05/04/2025 5:51 pm
Also, regarding long distance charges, they were high to offset relatively low local charges.
This was all part of one big company, AT&T, which had manufacturing (Western Electric), local phone service (Illinois Bell, New York Telephone, etc.), long distance (AT&T Long Lines), and R&D (Bell Labs).
FYI, I started working at Western Electric in 1979 and stayed in this industry until 2020.
Ed Davis
Inverness, Illinois, USA
05/04/2025 7:03 pm
Nice look back! How about one of these?
John Kuvakas
Warrenton, VA
05/04/2025 9:24 pm
John Bono
North Jersey
05/04/2025 10:11 pm
"Today, I am still using our stock pile of 75 and 100 watt bulbs."
THAT IS AMAZING!!! - Thanks for all that info too! 👍 👍 👍
05/04/2025 10:12 pm
06/04/2025 6:20 am
Page 1 / 2
Next