One of our more interesting programs was about the telephone. It was titled Number Please, not a phrase we hear very often today, but when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, these two words were commonplace.

The first phones installed required two lines into the home and were connected to each other. Over 1,000 lines were required to connect 50 phones. Within a short time, a switchboard was developed that had all lines going into a central point from which calls were redirected by an operator.

A local operator had her finger on the pulse of the town. She could not only connect you to your party, but she could tell you if they were home, when they would be back, give directions, suggest services, and help in an emergency.

Early phones were very simple and consisted of a transmitter and a receiver, and sound travelled over a wire. They were a far cry from today’s cellular smart phones that connect you to the Internet, take pictures, and have numerous other applications.

Most of our group grew up with the old system that included party lines, multiple rings, no dials or rotary dials, and an operator. Party lines usually had eight people, but you only heard four rings. You would have to listen to a series to be sure the call was for you.

Phone etiquette required you to make calls brief in case someone else needed to use the line and not to listen, which was a favorite pastime for house-bound folks and children. One of our members recalled that her grandmother had the first phone in Wilmot and heard her tell of her climbing up and separating the wires with a stocking so the phone would work. (Remember, it was the two-wire system.) She also said the phones would ring during a lightening storm. It was not unusual for someone to ask you to get off the line if they had to make an important call.

Telephones were props in movies, plays, and on television. Who can forget comedian Lily Tomlin’s famous skits about the telephone operator? You can see them on YouTube.com, and they are still funny.

Two facts from this program struck me. One was that early on, the telegraph, which was the main form of quick communication, was offered a chance to buy the telephone, and they refused because they thought it was just a fad and wouldn’t amount to anything. The second was that Bell’s wife was deaf and could never use her husband’s marvelous invention.

Our group enjoyed this program, as many of us could remember those old phone systems.

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