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(NON-POLITICAL) PARTY LINES AND OTHER TELEPHONIC CURIOSITIES PART 1
MY ATTRACTION TO SIRIUSXM “RadioClassics” offers me regular encounters with telephonic curiosities long gone in these days of smart phones. Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are tidbits prompted by these classic listening habits. There’s good ironic fun using my iPhone to hear the likes of Lum and Abner, Fibber McGee and Molly, Dragnet, and other radio shows of the era.
Lum and Abner’s Shared Party Line. Wikipedia recounts, “A party line (multiparty line, shared service line, party wire) is a local loop telephone circuit that is shared by multiple telephone service subscribers. Party line systems were widely used to provide telephone service, starting with the first commercial switchboards in 1878. A majority of Bell System subscribers in the mid-20th century in the United States and Canada were served by party lines, which had a discount over individual service. During wartime [and immediate postwar] shortages, these were often the only available lines.”
Lum and Abner was a homespun comedy broadcast from 1931 to 1954, “modeled on life in the small town of Waters, Arkansas, near where Chester Lauck and Norris Goff grew up….” So popular was Lum and Abner that in 1936, Waters changed its name to “Pine Ridge” after the show’s fictional town.
Chester “Lum” Lauck, 1902–1980, left, and Norris “Abner” Goff, 1906–1978. Image from CBS Radio via Wikipedia.
A feature was their Jot’em Down General Store, the telephone of which shared a party line with others in Pine Ridge. Each phone had a dedicated pattern of rings to identify its incoming calls. “That’s our ring,” Lum would say.
This ad’s WT (War Time) dates it from February 1942 to 1945’s end of the war.
Fibber Magee’s Operator-pal Myrt. Prior to automated equipment and particularly in small towns, telephone operators handled even local calls. Old-time radio interactions between Fibber McGee and telephone operator Myrtle (aka Myrt) were sources of humor: “Operator, give me…, oh, is that you Myrt? How’s every little thing…” Then Fibber would relate to wife Molly some outrageous Myrt family gossip: “Her brother’s got the chair… No, I mean that easy chair he ordered….”
Fibber, wife Molly, (and unseen operator Myrt). Images from Bleggah Blog.
Other Local Calls. There’s the classic “Sorry, Wrong Number,” with Agnes Moorehead originally broadcast on the Suspense radio program, May 25, 1943. And let’s not forget Mabel and Gertrude, Jack Benny’s recurring telephonic pair.
Tomorrow in Part 2, we’ll listen in on long-distance calls, one extended example from a guy named Sgt. Joe Friday.
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024
Simanaitis Says 
My father always talked really loud, almost shouting, on long distance calls, because the words had to travel so far!
With you on Suspense, Jack Benny, X-Minus One, Grand Central Station, even the Green Hornet. But Lum ‘n’ Abner were painful; the Beverly Hillbillies of radio. Tried to like them, we really did.
Orson Welles’ “The Hitchhiker” was downright chilling.
Dimension X’s “Mars Is Heaven” episode was terrifying. Especially if you listened alone in the dark.
You really did “see more on the radio” as a decades later ad campaign suggested.
CBS Radio Mystery Theater, 1974-82, admirably hosted by E. G. Marshall, he of The Defenders TV drama 1961-65, one of the best adult shows ever on the tube, ahead of its time, as was the 1963-64 Outer Limits. Both programs used law and sci-fi to broach subjects otherwise taboo on mainstream, primetime tube in the early ’60s. The final 11 months of CBS Radio Mystery Theater were hosted by Tammy Grimes. This was a well done homage to the best of old radio dramas, topnotch in its own right.
If Oswald Cobblepot, aka Bratman, Orange Julius regains the Ovaltine Office, we won’t return to “party lines,” but probably have our phones tapped depending on our voter registration.
Jeeze ;
I remember party lines in rural up state New York in the mid 1960’s, listening for your ring was a thing plus the snoopy old ladies who’d listen to everyone .
I moved to California in 1970 and was amazed to learn some party lines were still being used along old Rt66 .
The diner I used to stop at was “Amboy 3” .
-Nate
Our number at our MN fishing cabin was three longs and a short. Volume would drop as more people picked up to listen. Used big dry cell lantern batteries to boost amplification, and when voltage dropped, you’d put them in the oven for no more than 15 minutes to stir up the chemicals, and get another couple day’s use. They had a short half life, so you’d check all batteries on the shelf to get the ones with latest manufacturing date.