Wednesday, June 25, 2008

RECORD PRICE



One of the first commercial multipage United States telephone directories, Vol. 1, No. 1 for New Haven, Conn., was printed in 1878, just two years after the phone was invented. It listed 391 subscribers. Estimated at $30,000 to $40,000, it sold last week at Christie's for $170,500. The phone book included instructions on how to use the phone: "Never take the telephone off the hook unless you wish to use it. Commence the conversation by saying 'Hulloa.' When you are done talking, say 'That is all!'"

Our phones have changed since then, but the old-fashioned, heavy 1950s phones with cords are back in style. Repros are being made that use new technology, but the old ones use much less electricity than new cordless phones. Save energy and recycle--find an old phone.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The article made me chuckle and reminded me of my great-grandmother. She always ended phone calls with, "That's all I have" and then she would hang up on you. It didn't matter if it wasn't all you had because she was done. Thanks for the memory prompt.

Anonymous said...

Debbie says, You have to remember that all the automation now days means the original phones will not be able to use touch tone technology. You can not dial the same way. You can however use it hardwired like it is when the electricy konks out, unless all lines are down. Sorry, but keep one that is a touch tone for the automation calls.

Anonymous said...

You must remember that the originals had no touchtone technology and therefore can not responde to automated calls and can not punch in the numbers to say, perscriptions or accounts. We have one hard wired so that if the electricity goes out we can still call out. Only if the lines are still intact. But keep a touchtone phone to make those neccessary calls with technology.