Friday, January 18, 2008

SHOW & TELL '08 #3 - Dial Telephone

Welcome to “Show and Tell Friday!” Do you have something special to share with us? It could be a trinket from grade school, a piece of jewelry, or a treasured collection. Look around your home for something to share; dig through those boxes in your closet if you have to! Share photos and the story that goes with your special item.



These are Kelli's instructions for Show & Tell. If you have something show it and then go here to post your name to Mr. Linky. Then read and view all the lovely items that are being shown.



My Show & Tell for today is this Dial Telephone.

It now sits on the night stand in our bedroom. I purchased this telephone in 1976 when we had moved into our newly purchased home in Tulsa. It was offered by the local telephone company for $100. I ordered one and paid it out, on our telephone bill, $25 each month. In 1976 $100 was a lot of money!!!


The interesting part of my post today is more about the "Tell" than the "Show".


In 2004 we had just returned to our current home in Coweta, from our RV traveling for 4 years. My then 9 year old granddaughter, Oksana, was spending the night with us. She was only 5 when we had left and this telephone had been packed away so she was "seeing" it for the first time.


You know, we take things so for granted and we see them with our familiar eyes and we forget to look at things through younger eyes. Oksana "saw" the telephone on my night stand and wanted to know what it was!!!!!! Yes, the child had never seen a dial telephone. I explained it was a phone, and that instead of pushing buttons to make a phone call you put your finger in the number on the dial and rotated the dial. Then went to the next number, etc. She was absolutely fascinated and intrigued by that.


Later on that evening she was going to call her mother. I asked her if she would like to make the call on the old dial phone. She was delighted, as her eyes lite up and she exclaimed, "Can I?!" It was just one of those delightful moments in this grandmother and granddaughters life.


I have to add this.......We have several modern dial telephone in our home, in addition to this older treasure. BUT, when the power went out during the recent ice storm that we had.........guess which was the only operable telephone in the house. You guessed it......this one!!!! Newer isn't always better


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46 comments:

Gattina said...

This telephone is absolutely beautiful ! A real decoration (and it works, lol) Your story too is adorable, I never thought about this either, of course today's children don't know dial phones anymore.

Hootin Anni said...

LOL....not only pretty, but the story behind it is cute too. I was just talking to someone about wall mounted dial up phones and how they'd be a collector's item in today's times......

My show n tell is posted. I'd love to have you visit me today. :o)

Anonymous said...

I love your phone. We have an old phone in our home, but it's not a beautiful as yours. Thanks for sharing.

~~Deby said...

oh Susan..this is such a great story...the phone is gorgeous..I love it...and I think my grandsons would be the same way...
thanks for the sweet story.
Deby

... said...

your phone is beautiful. brings back memories of the phones i grew up with - with the dials, not the push buttons.

i remember i had to explain to my kids, at some point, what a dial phone was. unfortunately, i didn't have an actual phone to show them.

thanks for sharing. hope you have a great weekend.

ellen b. said...

Very cool and how wonderful that it was such a delight to your granddaughter! I know what you mean about power outages those portable handsets do not work. We were happy to have our old models during those times too!

Yellow Rose Arbor said...

That is a beautiful telephone! Such a sweet story about your granddaughter and the phone. I wanted to get my little grandson a Fisher-Price Chatter phone pull toy, then realized he probably wouldn't know what it was either! He has a toy cell phone!

Katherine

Frazzled Farm Wife said...

Your phone is gorgeous!

TJ said...

I had an old dial phone on a pedastal. Actually I still have it, but it was knocked over and broken. By a little girl that loved playing with it.

Yours is much prettier though. Thanks for sharing it.

Jean said...

Great post! Fisher Price has reissued their dial telephone from years ago which surprised me because kids wouldn't know what they were.

Cheryl said...

cute~ My mother had an old phone like that, I always felt like royalty using it lol ~Cheryl

Muum said...

That is a great story. We take for granted that things are familiar, when I remember looking at stuff in a museum, usually 'everyday tools' - a hundred years ago - and I don't know what a butter press or a ??? is, either.

Momma Roar said...

What a beautiful phone - I've never seen one so lovely.

I love the story along with it too!!

Click here to see what we got Colin for his birthday. We had to do a little explaining to Quintin and Elle. :)

Unknown said...

Love it! I have seen this delight in my childrens' eyes when they see something "new." My son was fascinated with a record player he discovered at my dad's. It was great.
Thanks for sharing.

Edi said...

My parents still have a working dial telephone in their basement. Not as cool looking as yours though...just a big black thing that doesn't have good hearing - but fun nonetheless.

Nora Lee said...

What a great story. In 1980 I also bought a similar phone from the telephone company, how much things have changed.

Thanks for sharing.
Sandra

Cherish the Home said...

The phone is beautiful! And I didn't know that rotary phones still work with the new phone systems.

Blessings,
~Mrs.B

Anonymous said...

How fun! And a sweet story too.
Kathy b

Knit-Wit said...

We bought an old dial telephone at an auction a couple of years back. It was a yellow one that hung on a wall and had the best ring. They just don't ring like that anymore.

Anonymous said...

It's a beautiful phone. and I love that story!

You asked how I was going to display my hearts -- I'm not sure yet. Probably either in a basket on hanging from pegs.

Ruth said...

I love that phone!! It's beautiful at any age. I always make sure we have one phone in the house that isn't a cordless. That way when the lights go out, I still have a phone that works!

Anonymous said...

It's lovely. Ann

Jen said...

What a cool phone! You just don't see them like that anymore!

Charlotte said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. I see you're in Oklahoma. I was born in Oklahoma - a little town called Wayne in McClain County. My grandmother lived in Purcell. I remember going to her house and was intrigued by her telephone. It was one of the tall skinny ones with the piece you hear through hanging on the side. Someday I'd like to get a phone like that for sentimental reasons.

Rose of Sharon said...

That phone is fabulous! I love it and I love the story behind it. How precious and amazing that your grandaughter did not know what it was! I remember a similar story happened to me with my son when we went to a garage sale and he picked up an old record album and said "look how big this CD is!" I couldn't believe it and I laughed so hard!

Hugs, Sharon

Suzy said...

Your treasure is really beautiful!!

maryt/theteach said...

Beautiful old phone, penless! And I loved the story that goes with it! Thanks for visiting my S&T post!

maryt/theteach said...

Forgot to say, penless, yes I'm probably going to have it re-upholstered...

Ms. Kathleen said...

That is such a cool phone! Isn't it something when our kids and grandkids think something is so cool or old or whatever and we thought it was just ordinary.

Thanks for sharing!

Kelly @ The Barefoot Mama said...

Oh Susan, I adore this post and I absolutely am enamored with your telephone!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lisa said...

this was nice. Yep, this does bring back the memories! Doubt that my youngest two realize what a rotary dial is. Thanks

Karla Cook @ Roads to Everywhere said...

Thanks for your comments on my blog. Come again soon! I have enjoyed reading yours, too. I added you to my blog list, so I'll be sure to come back.

Anonymous said...

Oh Susan, What a great story and what a great telephone. It's so strange to think that there are children who have never seen a rotary phone! I love knowing that your rotary is the one that you can depend on the most! Thanks so much for sharing. Also, thank you so much for your very kind words today on my blog.

Looking forward to your next post!
-Cookie Sunshine

Betty said...

Hi Susan,

That is a beautiful phone. I loved the story behind it, too. Yes, it would be a good thing if we would all take the time to see things through a child's eyes.

Thank you for visiting me today and leaving a comment. I hope you will visit often.

nancy said...

A great story, my dear. Remember when phone numbers were like this?
BR 3409. BR stood for Bramble when we had that number. Party line? Oh, yes. But that was long long ago.
Nancy

nannykim said...

Oh--yes, I lived in Sand Springs , Ok outside of Tulsa. I have the phone my family used in the 50's when I was growing up and AS YOU SAID--they made them dependable. It still works. Except now we just use our cell phones and not land phones. I brought it over to my mother in laws and it works like a charm. Nice phone you have, and nice story, and yes, that was a hefty price to pay for it back then!!

jodi said...

What a beautiful phone. I love the mouthpiece.

Dawn said...

Beautiful phone! And a great story - like trying to explain "records" to a kid.

I saw a cartoon once that cracked me up - a child was saying to a parent when they couldn't find the cordless phone - someone should invent a way to have the phone attached so it couldn't get lost - hmmm!

Lana G! said...

What a great story! The phone is beautiful.

Unknown said...

I love the phone. You have had it quite some time. so neat you have had it all these years.Sweet story thanks.

Mica

groovyoldlady said...

Beautiful phone. We used to have a black one at Mom's house. Mulletman and I have had 2 dial phones that we used for ages, but they were ugly - those old black or tan office models that weighed more than the night stand.

What I really miss is the receiver. Those old receivers are so much more comfy to talk in than the new flat ones!

Betty said...

Susan,
I totally agree that when we're out of the Sonlight we begin to die...

Your telephone is beautiful...a phone for a 'princess'. We, like you, have new phones but we also keep one older phone that plugs into a jack so when the other phones are out...old faithful still works.....

Thank you for visiting and commenting....Betty

Kelli said...

Just beautiful, Susan and I loved the story too! Grace and Emily really want a kind of phone like that!
Hugs,
Kelli

Susie said...

Hi Susan,
Sorry I haven't been by more often. I miss doing the Show N Tell, but right now just can't manage it. Loved seeing your phone. I worked as an operator before we were married and of course it was only dial phones in those days. I'm not sure my grandkids have ever seen one!
xo

Barbara said...

What a gorgious phone and interesting story to go with it.

Jill said...

I'm late in reading your Show and Tell, Susan. I loved your story. I grew up, of course, with dial telephones through the 70's and 80's. We had them mounted to the walls, not sitting on a table. My mom used those phones until she moved out of the house we grew up in in 1998! And, I do remember the days of buying a phone from the phone company. I don't think there was any other way to get a phone, was there?