[Boatanchors] POTS vs. Other Services (Was: Short WaveBroadcast Folks)

[Rob Atkinson]

I think the 302 was the first model to have the ringer in the base of
the phone.  The 102 had the ringer separate and mounted up on the
wall.  You can see the 302 in episodes of I Love Lucy, the original
series whenever someone uses a phone in their apartment set.  the
handset has a straight cloth cord.  Mine is in my ham shack where it
belongs with all the other gear of the same period.  It works FB for
now, but the Fiber Fone services don't support dial pulse.

Rob
K5UJ

On Wed, Apr 16, 2014 at 10:02 PM, Richard Knoppow
<1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>

>
>
>     Haven't seen a 300 series for a long time.  When we first moved here
> c.1950, we had a wasp waist phone with ringer in a separate box.  That was
> replaced with a 500 set because it had an adjustable ringer and my
> grandfather, who lived with us, had a heart condition and needed quiet.  I
> really would have liked to keep that phone but was too young and dumb to ask
> the installer.
>     BTW I also remember wooden magneto ringer phones.  We had a place in the
> country in Michigan, the phone there was a wood one on a party line. I don't
> remember the ring combination any more but it was an Onsted number.  You
> could tell if it was going to rain because the phone went dead. I used to
> think it was because the lines went down but now think they just grounded
> everything if a lightening storm was expected. All of those phones were
> installed by very tall people, I had to stand on a stool to use it. I also
> remember how to hold a candlestick phone in one hand. Receiver goes between
> thumb and forfinger and the mouthpiece is hooked on your little and ring
> finger.  "We are the phone company; we are omnipotent".