Phone of the Future

March 11, 1968 Appleton Post-Crescent

 

Today, many households don't even have what have become known as "landlines."  But in the late 60's, Ma Bell was the only game in town and wired phones were it.  No jacks with the simple plastic connectors as we have today.  These were the days of the hard-wired, screwed-into-the-wall, phones.  Seeing this ad in the paper made me remember only too well when this phone came out and how neat it was to have one installed in another room. Suddenly, long distance calls became exciting.  I could actually be a part of the conversation on the phone with my Mom and my aunt in Milwaukee at the same time, for example; essentially it was a three-way call.  And when I got into those teenage years, having another phone in a different room meant a privacy my older siblings could only have dreamed about in their formative years.  I'm not sure why my parents ever got that extension phone, but I was always grateful it was there.