Question:
I have an old telephone which has no dial on it. What were they for?
2011-12-17 15:05:47 UTC
I have an old telephone which has no dial on it. What were they for?
Six answers:
Carl N
2011-12-18 09:17:08 UTC
Up until 1954 or so, our phone didn't have a dial. Then they gave us a dial phone that didn't do anything for a year or so. Since this was Chicago, I would imagine some places didn't get automated service until later than that. In fact, I was part of the conversion team that pulled the last manual exchange out of Ohio in 1979 :-)



You can still buy phones without dials, they are used for ringdown service (as in airports to ring a cab or hotel). So, how "old" your phone is would be more important than the fact it has no dial.
charyl
2016-12-12 09:23:07 UTC
Old Telephone Dial
Diane
2016-05-16 01:09:57 UTC
The first telephone numbers took the form of three letters and four or five numbers, e.g. PAV 1234 (That exchange would be Pavilion). As there were only 10 numerals on the dial, it was necessary for two or three letters on the dial to be assigned to one digit. Even today, some companies request phone numbers that spell out some feature of their business when the letters are read instead of the numbers. For example a plumber might have 7586237 By dialing PLUMBER on the keypad you would be dialling the number 7586237. Hope that helps.
Randy
2011-12-17 20:20:54 UTC
Years ago, in larger offices, there was a lady who was a switch board operator. She sat in front of a desk that had wires that looked like large head phone plugs. She would get a call for Mr. Smith, and pull up his "wire" and plug it into the hole in the board to make his phone ring. If he wanted to make a call, he would just pick up his phone, a light lit up, and a buzzer sounded. She plugged in, and asked him what number to dial, and do all the work for him, while he was on the phone. Mr. Smith didn't need a dial pad or a rotary, since the switch board operator did all the calls for him.
Jake
2011-12-17 15:07:15 UTC
you would pick it up and be automatically contacted to the operator who would then use a switch board and connect your call. Hold on to it, its an antique and worth some money. especially if it is the candlestick kind
Joshua
2011-12-17 15:06:46 UTC
It probably could call only 1 number. I think it was for service, for example an electrician or whatever.


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