...was probably on a pretty cool old phone.
March 27 - On this date in 1884 the first long-distance phone call was made, between Boston and New York City. Branch managers of the American Bell Telephone Company in Boston called their counterparts in New York City. (The second call was probably from a telemarketing company.)
The telephone has a fascinating history. It's one of the common items in homes that has drastically changed within the memory of people living today. For example:
- my nine-year old son has no idea what to do with a dial phone
- a 20 year-old person has never known a time without cell phones
- anyone under 25 has probably never been limited by the length of a telephone cord
- ditto for having the privilege of "untangling" the cord
Many people today can still remember party lines, when several neighbors shared the same line, and a unique ring pattern identified the person being called. There was nothing, but the noise of heaving breathing, that would stop a neighbor from picking up their phone and listening in on your call.
A few people can still remember what it took to get a long distance call through. There were real human operators that had to connect the call for you. You didn't dial "1" to get long distance. You dialed an operator, told her the city you were calling, and then may get another operator in that city. Then you had to tell the operator the phone number or name of the party you were trying to reach. There were still many places using this system up into the 1970's - hard to believe for the younger generation.
Phones have certainly come a long way in design. In the past phones were almost exclusively black. There were "candlestick" phones - as seen on Andy's desk in the Andy Griffith Show. Also the old "crank" phones, seen in the old Lassie TV series. Eventually, with touch-tone technology (beginning in 1964) phones began to appear in various colors and even crazy shapes. This "donut" phone from the '70s is a good example.
Vintage telephones can be adapted for use with modern phone systems. You can find adapters online for nearly any plug style. You too could WOW your friends with your very own, harvest gold, donut phone!
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Update: There are other claims to the first "long distance" phone call. Alexander Graham Bell performed a few experiments from Brantford, Ontario, Canada in August, 1876. These experiments were over a distance of about 5 miles, with very rudimentary equipment. While it was a "long distance" by those standards, it hardly fits today's understanding of the term. To qualify the claim that the first true long distance call was on March 27, 1884, America's Network; 03/15/97, Vol. 101 Issue 6, p78 says, "the first long-distance call [was] made on March 27, 1884, over a line established for that purpose..."
(Don't miss Michael's comment below - and visit his site at www.FrillFreePhones.com)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Those PABX switchboards were still in use in the late 60′s in the UK, my second job was at Central Casting in Carnaby Street, London and they had a bank of four. We would handle thousands of calls every evening as ‘extras’ called in hoping for work.
March 27, 1884 may have been the date of the first long distance call in the US, but not in the world.
Apparently the world’s first LD call was made from Brantford, Ontario, Canada in 1876.
Interesting posting.
HOWEVER, the “donut” phone was never made in harvest gold. It was yellow, and called Sculptura.
Others colors were white and brown, and it was made in both rotary and touch-tone versions.
Thanks Michael. It’s funny, when I wrote that I thought “I’ll bet someone will tell me it wasn’t made in harvest gold.” But I could not find out for sure.