Chapter 1: Reminiscing About the Rotary Dial Phone

Let me introduce you to the rotary dial phone that was a staple of my childhood.

Every year on March 10th, we celebrate National Landline Telephone Day! Surprising, isn’t it? When I was about three, my family relocated from Boston, MA, to Southern California. We settled in a new tract home in Whittier, and this rotary phone was our lifeline. At one time, our number transitioned from OX-687XX to 696–87XX, with OX representing OXbow or OXford.

Our phone was part of a “party line.” No, it wasn't for planning parties! This meant that our line was shared with a neighbor, making it impossible for both households to use the phone simultaneously. If we picked up the receiver while they were chatting, we could eavesdrop on their conversation, and they could hear ours too! One day, while my friends and I were arranging a picnic over the phone, our neighbor kindly interjected to offer us some peanut butter—helpful yet intrusive!

My parents were billed monthly by the phone company for this device, a cost that surely exceeded the actual worth of the phone long ago. After the AT&T breakup in the mid-1980s, new providers began allowing customers to own their phones, yet this transition was not automatic. Remarkably, as late as 2006, around 750,000 people in the U.S. were still renting their phones.

What was the experience like with this hefty black rotary phone? It was physically anchored to the house! The distance you could roam while talking was limited to the length of the cord connecting the phone to the wall. To place a long-distance call, one had to dial “00” to reach an operator, and those calls were often steeply priced—making them a cause for parental wrath if made without permission! Teenagers dreaded the arrival of the monthly phone bill. Local calls could also be costly; charges increased with “message units” for calls that were nearby but outside the local area.

Everyone kept a personal “address book” next to our single family phone, alongside a thick local phone book containing listings for both residents and businesses. If you didn’t have a number, you could dial “0” or tap the switchhook to reach an information operator (later known as “411”). This operator likely had access to every phone book available! And if you needed the time, there was a number for that too!

National Telephone Day celebrates the history of phones.

If the person we attempted to reach was busy or had their phone off the hook, we encountered a “busy signal.” If they were out, the phone would ring indefinitely until we hung up, and there was no option to leave a voicemail. You simply kept trying (or decided not to).

A look back at the days of landline telephones.

When the phone was left off the hook—intentionally or accidentally—it would emit an irritating screech to alert us. If done on purpose to avoid a call, covering the phone with a blanket would muffle the noise.

Dialing the rotary phone involved using your fingers (or sometimes a pen), and if you didn’t complete the number in one go, you had to start from scratch—there was no option to erase a mistake. Everyone became quite adept at this process, though the idea of a push-button phone or simply speaking to a smartphone to place a call was beyond imagination.

The evolution of telephony from rotary to smartphones.

Smartphones are incredible; we now carry sophisticated devices that are also phones, akin to realizing a microwave can do more than heat hot dogs.

I do miss the simplicity of not knowing who called when I was out. No voicemails, no answering machines, no caller ID—just peace of mind. Nowadays, I always know who’s calling and must decide whether to answer or let it go to voicemail, which often doesn’t happen since the caller knows I saw their attempt. If I don’t respond, I might get a text or a Facebook message asking why I didn’t call back, or worst of all, be accused of “ghosting.”

Before smartphones took over, telephones served no purpose beyond calls. We never thought to bring the rotary phone to the dinner table. Family gatherings revolved around watching television or playing games, capturing memories with cameras, and visiting libraries to read books.

One significant change was our ability to memorize numerous phone numbers, both local and long-distance. Now, with smartphones, all that information is easily accessible, and the only number I've retained is that of our old rotary phone—everything else has faded from memory. Sometimes, I wish I could recall my son’s or best friend’s number for emergencies if I had to borrow someone else's phone. Perhaps I should jot down a few important numbers on a card—how old-fashioned, yet wise.

So, let’s raise a toast to National Landline Telephone Day! I did promise a celebration!

Celebrating the nostalgia of landline telephones.

Today's thought—reach out to a friend or family member; hearing their voice can be incredibly uplifting, especially after the challenges of recent years. You might find it worthwhile to read this story before making that call:

Feeling the Quiet on a Swing

Sitting quietly — Prompt #7