MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Party Lines

Party Lines

posted 7 years ago by R_Kane (15828)
29 replies | jump to latest

This is probably not about what most of you think. It’s not about a bunch of MC posters getting blotto and chatting up a storm. It’s not about politics. It’s not about how to get laid at a party. In the Dark Ages, people had party telephone lines. You shared a line with another household, and got your phone service at a lower rate; but you did not have unlimited access to your phone service. I can imagine the growing looks of disbelief, consternation and horror that are spreading over the faces of most of you who are reading this. I hope there are others here who will back me up on the truth of this. Today, everyone has his own personal phone. With a party line, you had to wait for the other party to get off the line before you could make or receive a call. You COULD pick up your phone and hear the other party’s conversation, and participate in it, as in, “Hey, asshole, you’ve been on the line for five hours, talking about I Love fucking Lucy! Get the fuck off the phone!!!”

What do you think the murder rate would be if the party cellphone line was mandatorily reintroduced in today’s society? What would the suicide rate be? Is there a horror film in this idea?

[–] mplo (2357) 7 years ago

I remember getting a phone call 20 some odd years ago, but it wasn't a phone call for me. The person on the other end of the line was engaged in a conversation with another person, and she was obviously drunk, drugged out, or something. I told her to get the fuck off of my phone, and she started laughing, but she eventually got off. That was rather eerie.

[–] GlenEllyn (21592) 7 years ago

That's a weird "wrong number."

[–] mplo (2357) 7 years ago

Yup! Eerie is even more like it!

[–] MIchiganJFrogg (-35) 7 years ago

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[–] mplo (2357) 7 years ago

I've heard of the movie "Sorry, Wrong Number", but don't remember whether I saw it or not. I might've seen it, and just forgotten it. When that happened to me, it's because somebody else's line clearly crossed with mine. It was creepy, though.

[–] twinA (4921) 7 years ago

I only know of this from watching movies from the 50s era. There might have been a scene like that in one of the Abbot and Costello films. It's also interesting to see all the many ways people had places to smoke or leave their smoke ash in, all kinds of trays, fold out drink and bar, and other kinds of smoking related hotel services. My father's side of family did not get indoor plumbing until the late 90s, lived like the Beverly Hillbillies in many ways, before the fictional family struck it rich.

Reproducing party lines today could cause a decline in quality of phone services. The telecommunication companies would have a lot of leeway in the market at first, lots of customers but no need for innovation until competitors come up to offer better services, unless they collaborate to keep the market at certain rates at the expense of those relying on their technology. No doubt there would be public backlash. I'm sure the landscape of the internet would most definitely change somehow.

Only horror film that comes to mind is Scream, or maybe its parody counterpart, Scary Movie, in which the mysterious masked assailant deliberately stalks people in fearmongering. Scary Movie turns this into a joke that revolves around, "What's Up?" being repeatedly shouted by multiple people until the party line turns into the Brady Bunch opening panel that goes from ridiculous to downright awkward with even the assailant questioning the point of the phone call and the mentality of the other people on the line!

[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Yes, years ago, there was an ashtray every 3 feet, everywhere you went. I just wanted to add an answer to a question some posters may have had: if two households shared the same line, wouldn’t both phones ring, so how did you know if the call were for you not? The answer is ring patterns. One household would have the pattern ring, ring, ring and the other would have the pattern ring-ring, ring-ring, ring-ring, so both households would know for whom the call was intended. Of course, either home could answer the call, and do something devilish. “I sorry, she can’t come to the phone. I’m the mailman, and we’re having sex.”

[–] twinA (4921) 7 years ago

Thanks for sharing and the laugh you gave me at the end! I did not know that. The scenario you present raises a lot of questions about ethics and etiquette for that time. With so many people using cell phones today, it's just as important to have their own ring tones to tell each other apart. Makes us wonder what the future will find unique about the devices we use right now in the early 20th century.

[–] MIchiganJFrogg (-35) 7 years ago

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[–] twinA (4921) 7 years ago

So it was the closest thing someone had to the internet back then, an open book for all to see. Fascinating. Would not be surprised if the Simpsons did a skit on that, with Bart most likely, pranking Moe with calls to his bar, making him say things like, "I pee freely."

[–] FredBurroughs (21864) 7 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1J2CzNnS8

Last I checked, this is still a working party line with live operators (unless it's during off hours, then it goes to voicemail). Check it out!

[–] Fornax (1) 7 years ago

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[–] MissMargoChanning (6630) 7 years ago

I remember the party lines. We sometimes listened in for fun. Later, in the mid to late 60s, my best friend who lived down the road was on ours. We always had a certain time set to pick up the phone and talk.
As for the idea of a party cell phone line, I can't see that happening. Cell phones don't have lines.
I could see a movie about scammers being scammed by the people they bother.
Actually, I prefer Hoax Hotel on YouTube for that!