You know you’re getting older when……

[Typhoon]

When you remember subscribers (as they were called then) having to wait months to get a telephone installed. My uncle was a sales rep and was in that position after moving house. He had to go to a phone box with pocketfuls of coppers* every morning to make his calls to the office and to clients.

* Also, when you remember calling small change 'coppers' after the material they were made of.

It was four old pennies when I was a kid (I'm not sure whether you could use anything else, like ha'pennies).

I can remember when it was a source of pride (and affluence) that someone was the only one in the road who had a landline (not us). Very occasionally there would be a knock at the door - it was the phone owner, there was an urgent call for us, typically a bereavement or similar. The phone owner had allowed the number to be passed on in emergencies. I can remember making such a call from a phone box on Boxing Day after my grandmother passed away so the neighbour could pass the message on to her sister.

After we had a phone, I seem to remember (but this may have been an urban myth) ringing home from a box and pressing button 'B' quickly at the first ring to get the money back, a single ring being a pre-arranged code 'I'm on my way home', 'I'm at the station', 'All is well', whatever.

 

[Calthrop]

* Also, when you remember calling small change 'coppers' after the material they were made of.

I still sometimes jocularly use this expression.

 

[dangie]

…..when you remember calling small change 'coppers' after the material they were made of.

When you remember farthings.

* Stopped being minted in 1956 and ceased to be legal tender in 1961.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

When you remember farthings.

* Stopped being minted in 1956 and ceased to be legal tender in 1961.

Similar size / weight to a (new) penny, and were sometimes passed off in loose change as same, post Decimalisation.

 

[AM9]

It was four old pennies when I was a kid (I'm not sure whether you could use anything else, like ha'pennies).

I can remember when it was a source of pride (and affluence) that someone was the only one in the road who had a landline (not us). Very occasionally there would be a knock at the door - it was the phone owner, there was an urgent call for us, typically a bereavement or similar. The phone owner had allowed the number to be passed on in emergencies. I can remember making such a call from a phone box on Boxing Day after my grandmother passed away so the neighbour could pass the message on to her sister.

After we had a phone, I seem to remember (but this may have been an urban myth) ringing home from a box and pressing button 'B' quickly at the first ring to get the money back, a single ring being a pre-arranged code 'I'm on my way home', 'I'm at the station', 'All is well', whatever.

I could go one better than that, with no risk to my pennies. I could dial the number required by flashing the plungers (phone rests) at the correct rate - I.e.10 pps, to dial the number. This avoided the need to press any button to speak. There was a modern equivalent to that when multi-frequency dialling became common. It started in the US where some carried a box that emitted the tones being held over the mouthpiece and certain access codes, (unusual combinations of tones) gave free and open access to the whole system including international! These 'features' disappeared when fully digital exchanges were commonplace.

 

[Typhoon]

I could go one better than that, with no risk to my pennies. I could dial the number required by flashing the plungers (phone rests) at the correct rate - I.e.10 pps, to dial the number. This avoided the need to press any button to speak. There was a modern equivalent to that when multi-frequency dialling became common. It started in the US where some carried a box that emitted the tones being held over the mouthpiece and certain access codes, (unusual combinations of tones) gave free and open access to the whole system including international! These 'features' disappeared when fully digital exchanges were commonplace.

If they had taught us stuff like that, I might have paid more attention in Physics!

 

[birchesgreen]

I could go one better than that, with no risk to my pennies. I could dial the number required by flashing the plungers (phone rests) at the correct rate - I.e.10 pps, to dial the number. This avoided the need to press any button to speak. There was a modern equivalent to that when multi-frequency dialling became common. It started in the US where some carried a box that emitted the tones being held over the mouthpiece and certain access codes, (unusual combinations of tones) gave free and open access to the whole system including international! These 'features' disappeared when fully digital exchanges were commonplace.

One example being the blue box made by a young Steve Wozniak and helped by some bloke he knew called Steve Jobs, i wonder what else they went on to do...

 

[swt_passenger]

I remember waiting until after 6pm to make phone calls when they were charged at a far cheaper rate.

“It’s cheaper to phone your friends, after six and at weekends…” as the advertising hammered home.

 

[Gloster]

“It’s cheaper to phone your friends, after six and at weekends…” as the advertising hammered home.

I can’t remember how our little rhyme ran; something like:

’Phone your friends and mates before six
And then your parents will s***ing bricks

 

[Dai Corner]

“It’s cheaper to phone your friends, after six and at weekends…” as the advertising hammered home.

I remember it as "It's so cheap to phone your friends" but much prefer

I can’t remember how our little rhyme ran; something like:

’Phone your friends and mates before six
And then your parents will s***ing bricks

My father is still of the mindset that phone calls are very expensive and keeps them as short and to the point as possible even though rambling on for nearly an hour would cost no more.

 

[75A]

In the early 60's my late Father was a GPO Engineer and had a phone line as he was often on call. My Mum reckons the neighbours would sometimes be in a queue down the road.

 

[jfollows]

Attitudes to phone calls certainly seems to be different over generations.

My late father would rush to answer the phone at home when it rang, even when we were in the middle of a conversation, he thought it "might be important" I guess. Bloody rude I thought.

I won't use my phone in public, on a train in particular, the idea that someone could hear what I'm saying offfends me. If important I'll go to the vestibule.

I have an older (70s) friend who is dreadful. I was talking to him in a pub and it rang, "do you mind if I take this?" he said and I said "yes" but he just assumed I'd said "no" and then proceeded to have the conversation whilst facing me so I could hear every bloody word until I stood up and walked away. Once he'd finished I told him in no uncertain terms what I thought of him, and told him that in future if he insists on taking calls in my presence he should be the one who stands up and walks away.

My view is that if I'm expecting an important call when I'm in company it's polite to apologise in advance, otherwise it's just rude to answer the phone when it rings.

Some people don't realise that they make calls when it's convenient to them, but it's not necessarily convenient to the recipient of their call.

I also have to train myself to make calls from home on my mobile because they're free, whereas if I use my land-line I can end up paying something. The idea that the mobile is cheaper still doesn't see right to me.

 

[Peter Sarf]

when you remember someone being able to phone you at the pub (pre mobiles!), the bar staff knew who you were, and depending on who the caller was would:

1) offer you the phone
2) say ‘sorry he just left’
3) say ‘no he’s not been in tonight’, or
4) say ‘never heard of him’

as appropriate!

That was my definition of a local pub.

That never happened to me but I agree it would be my definition of a local pub.

Hang on, I get it - your not thinking of your living room are you ? .

 

[Ediswan]

……you talk about when the lottery had 49 numbers and cost £1 a ticket.

Until I saw that, I thought it still did. Which shows much attention I pay to the lottery.

 

[QSK19]

Until I saw that, I thought it still did. Which shows much attention I pay to the lottery.

Yep, and also I remember that jackpot winners at the very beginning of the lottery’s life in 1994 used to go on the show to describe how it changed their lives. Just one draw per week, no other games and Noel Edmonds & Anthea Turner are former presenters (Edmonds presented the first draw, I think).

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Re post #1753 above ...

At the risk of going off at a tangent, about 20-25 years ago, Hector's House recorded the first and only Bradford (Park Avenue) fan song
View attachment Trevor Storton's Barmy Army.mp3
The impromptu group was named after Kevin Hector whose 44 goals for Bradford in D4 in 1965/66 hasn't been bettered in any of the top 4 divisions since (but was bettered by a few before like Dixie Dean & Terry Bly).

Trevor Storton R.I.P.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Well, to me Hector's House is a TV cartoon for kids...

 

[AM9]

I remember it as "It's so cheap to phone your friends" but much prefer

My father is still of the mindset that phone calls are very expensive and keeps them as short and to the point as possible even though rambling on for nearly an hour would cost no more.

He presumably didn't use Dial-A-Disc.

 

[Dai Corner]

He presumably didn't use Dial-A-Disc.

He worked for the BBC and was given more discs by promoters than he knew what to do with. Many are still in his house to be sorted out when the time comes.

 

[Busaholic]

Yep, and also I remember that jackpot winners at the very beginning of the lottery’s life in 1994 used to go on the show to describe how it changed their lives. Just one draw per week, no other games and Noel Edmonds & Anthea Turner are former presenters (Edmonds presented the first draw, I think).

'How winning five million quid changed my life' stories so soon after it happened were ridiculous on many levels. For a start, going public would guarantee literally hundreds of begging letters if you didn't vacate your existing address for good within days. Secondly, so many said trite things like 'I'll be able to buy a new washing machine now: and thirdly, find out how it really changed their life by coming back after five years and discovering divorce, bitter family rows and alcoholism, etc, in many documented cases. I could almost think of nothing worse than winning five million, whereas a hundred thousand would make a hell of a difference to many people's lives without ruining them. Actually, Edmonds and Turner are examples of two people to whom fame, and with it money, have not brought inner peace, seemingly.

 

[Ediswan]

Well, to me Hector's House is a TV cartoon for kids...

Glove puppets.

 

[QSK19]

'How winning five million quid changed my life' stories so soon after it happened were ridiculous on many levels. For a start, going public would guarantee literally hundreds of begging letters if you didn't vacate your existing address for good within days. Secondly, so many said trite things like 'I'll be able to buy a new washing machine now: and thirdly, find out how it really changed their life by coming back after five years and discovering divorce, bitter family rows and alcoholism, etc, in many documented cases. I could almost think of nothing worse than winning five million, whereas a hundred thousand would make a hell of a difference to many people's lives without ruining them.

All very true indeed!

 

[3141]

Sorry to be pedantic, but your area code is actually 020. The 7 and 8 from the old 0171 and 0181 codes were tagged on to the start of the old 7-digit subscriber numbers.

For example, if your phone number was 0171-123-4567 prior to the number change and you wanted to call a friend whose number was 0181-123-4567 you would have been required to dial the whole number. After the change, all you had to do was dial 8123-4567 if you wanted to call your friend (from your landline) and if they were to return the call they'd only have to dial 7123-4567.

It was the same with all the other areas that were converted to 02x-xxxx-xxxx formats; most people* were so used to using either a 5-digit code and a 6-digit number, or a 4-digit code and 7-digit number that they just continued with the same format when they didn't need to.

Mobile phones were already fairly well established by the time these changes came into effect, so people were used to all-figure dialling anyway and this is all a bit moot. There are some areas (Aberdeen being one) that now enforce all-figure dialling in order to provide additional telephone numbers without actually having to change the overall numbering scheme.

Bringing the thread back on topic, when my folks moved here 40-odd years ago it was the first time we'd ever had a phone line and the number had three digits. The main exchange code had 4 digits and there was a 2-digit local code that was required before our number was dialled.

Prior to that, they had to go to a nearby phone box and insert coins to the value of 2p and 5p! My gran always used to answer with "25xxx"...

Bonus points for anyone who recognises "4291"...

How recent! When I was young, living in Southgate, it was two old pennies (less than one of today's), which you inserted before you dialled the number. When the person answered you pressed Button A, which caused the coins to fall into a box, and you were connected. If you got no answer you pressed Button B and your coins were returned.

But two stops up the Piccadilly Line to its terminus at Cockfosters, the exchange was still manual. There was no dial, and when you lifted the receiver an operator asked you what number you wanted. Naughty little boys used to say a few rude things and then put the phone down.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Glove puppets.

Close enough considering it's just over half a century since I was watching it!!

 

[dangie]

When you’re sandpapering wood, after a few minutes wonder why nothing much is happening, then realise you have the rough side up not down

 

[Gloster]

When you read that Lulu is seventy-five this year.

EDIT: Wikipedia says she was seventy-five last year: perhaps she doesn’t want to shout about it.

 

[ian1944]

To revert to phones, in particulat public call boxes, this is a copy of a post I made on another forum some time ago. My involvement with such things is more than 55 years ago now, but (usual when growing old) the names of colleagues at the time come readily to mind.

Re.Button A and Button B, the operation was as follows. Though I hope that this is of interest, the main reason for doing this is to test my power of recall over more than 45 years.

When the handset in the public phone box was picked up, this activated both the microphone and the earpiece, so the operator and the emergency services could be contacted without having to put money in the slot, but only positions 9 and 0 on the dial were operative. To bring the rest of the dial into use, money had to be inserted - 4 old pennies at the time I'm recalling. These were weighed, and after the full complement was in you could dial any number. However, because the money was still recoverable, the microphone was now not operative - as the first coin was pushed in, a bar across the slot was forced back to cut it off.

If the called party didn't answer, you could press Button B and get your money back, as it was still in an outer box. If they answered and it was not the person you wanted (remember, the earpiece was still active), again you could abort the call at no cost. Only if you wished to speak did you have to re-activate the microphone by pressing Button A, simultaneously dropping the coins past the point of recovery.

If you've followed this so far, you'll have seen the weak point in the scheme - if it was possible to insert the coins without pushing back the bar, 2-sided calls could be made at no cost (unlimited time, but local only, as at that time everything else had to be connected by the operator). It was discovered that 4 pennies with slight flats filed off would pass the bar and still be heavy enough to bring the dial into full use. When the call was over, Button B would return the chipped pennies for further fraud.

The answer - a redesigned coinbox, coinciding with the introduction of STD. Now the dial, earpiece and microphone were fully operational as soon as the handset was picked up, so calls to anyone could be made without inserting any money. But as soon as anyone other than the operator or the emergency services answered, loud pips drowned out anything but the most desperate and intermittent conversation (think sampled-data). To silence them, money had to be pushed in the slot (the system was known as pay-on-answer), whereupon it passed beyond recall. Defacing the coins to pass the operating lever would simply mean that the pips didn't stop, and anyway there was no outer box. There were still fiddles, but that's another story.

 

[dangie]

When you read that Lulu is seventy-five this year.

EDIT: Wikipedia says she was seventy-five last year: perhaps she doesn’t want to shout about it.

I see what you did there



************
Firstly, and you’ll see why I’m asking this, is it possible to delete a post you’ve made? I know you can edit it, but can you delete it?

The reason I’m asking, and this is probably because I’m getting old, is that three times in the last week I’ve made a post in the wrong thread.

 

[Typhoon]

Firstly, and you’ll see why I’m asking this, is it possible to delete a post you’ve made? I know you can edit it, but can you delete it?

The reason I’m asking, and this is probably because I’m getting old, is that three times in the last week I’ve made a post in the wrong thread.

My suggestion would be to edit by deleting the text leaving nothing.

Now let's see if it works.

(A couple of minutes later)

No, it doesn't.

You know when you are getting old because you have time to try such stunts (seemed like a good idea at the time). Sorry for abusing your post!

 

[ChrisC]

Having just been reading another thread about MacDonalds, I would say when you avoid fast food restaurants and takeaways because you find the system for ordering food too confusing. I don’t know which I find most confusing between ordering from a touch screen, or at a counter where the young people serving speak so quickly and bombard you with so many options that you end up with items you did not really intend ordering.