Junior kept an eye toward the den door. It was open just a crack. He wasn’t supposed to be in Pop’s sanctuary, but his dad had a phone extension on his desk. A lure the boy could not resist.
Last week he had watched from the top of the stairs, fascinated, as a workman installed two new phones, one in the hallway and one in the den. What an interesting device. You could pick up the handset, spin the dial and speak with someone across town or across the world! All from the comfort of your own home!
How did it work? Junior was desperate to know. He’d been afraid to pester the man from the phone company, so he let that opportunity slip by. In the intervening days questions about the device only grew in his mind.
He didn’t dare play with the hall phone. Anyone could walk by at any time. But the extension, which now rested on Pop’s desk inside the den, was out of view.
Safely alone, at least for the moment, Junior lifted the handset of the cradle. A tone buzzed from the earpiece. He put his finger in the dial, tempted to give it a spin, but didn’t dare. Junior didn’t want to place a call. He wanted to look under the phone’s hood, so to speak.
The boy pulled the handset away from his ear and tilted it so he could see better. When talking through the phone, you listened through a speaker at the top and spoke through a mouthpiece at the bottom.
But how did sound actually travel from here to there?
Phone Talk in Action!
Hey! This handset wasn’t one solid piece of plastic! There were covers at each end which could be opened to reveal the mysteries beneath!
What was he waiting for? He started to unscrew the cap that protected the mouthpiece when—
“JUNIOR!”
Pop’s voice flew through the room with the strength of a tsunami. Junior jumped, dropping the phone. The handset hit the top of the desk with a clatter. He had been caught, red handed!
Junior couldn’t meet his father’s eyes. Studying the blotter on the desktop was a better option. Pop’s big feet shuffled across the carpet. The man called his name again. He dared to peek. His father stood in front of the desk, hands on his hips, a grim expression on his face.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Gee whiz, Pop, I wasn’t going to hurt anything,” Junior protested. “I just wanted to see how the phone worked.”
“It’s great that you want to learn,” Pop said. He gently picked up the handset and put the cap back in place, “but there are better ways to do it then to take the phone apart.”
“How? I asked the lady at the library but all she had was a book of numbers. A “directory” she called it. There wasn’t any information on the phone itself.”
“Hmm,” Pop said, “Let me think.” He stood, his hands perched back on his hips, but not as tense as before. After a minute or two he snapped his fingers. “I know.”
He opened the top drawer of his desk and rummaged around for a minute, then pulled out two folded pieces of paper. “These newsletters are included with our bill every month. Each one is chock full of articles relating to the phone company. You might find them interesting.“
“Gee, Pop. That’s neat!” Junior took them carefully from his father. “I’ll read every word.”
“Good boy.” His dad sat behind his desk. “Now run along, I have work to do.”
“Sure thing, Pop,” Junior said as he turned to go.
He reached the doorway when his father‘s voice floated behind him. “Leave the telephone alone from now on. No more disassembly!”
The boy faced his father, clutching the newsletters to his chest. “No more, Pop. I promise!”
Junior waited until he got to the safety of his room to take a look at his prize. Both were issues of a publication called “Talk.” They promised “news and information about your telephone service.”
And more! The feature article of the 1952 edition dealt with no less than the subject of war, focusing on how the company protected telephone lines in case of attack.
Phone Talk: Keeping Communications Safe!
With threats from the enemy discussed every night on the news, it’s good that Pacific Telephone was on the ball!
Junior had no idea how interesting the telephone directories really were, until he read this article. He never looked at the one next to the phone in the hall, and he owed the librarian an apology for not paying attention when she tried to tell him about the book. The boy vowed to remember this lesson. Interesting things can be found inside the most ordinary objects.
The last page of the 1952 newsletter was full of communications trivia.
Communication Coast to Coast
Junior couldn’t wait to stump his classmates with his new found knowledge.
Having finished the first pamphlet, he picked up the 1953 edition.
The Transistor! A Phone Talk Cover Story!
No phone was visible on this cover. Only a pea-pod next to a spider-like device. The newsletter promised details about an electronic revolution on the horizon. Could this be true?
Yes! The feature article focused on a brand new invention that was going to change the world. Something called a transistor.
Phone Talk About a New innovation!
Next came a plea for girl graduates to apply for work at the phone company. His older sister, Susie, was going to graduate from high school soon. Maybe she would be interested in a job like that? Junior resolved to ask her.
Help Wanted!
Guess what? Phones and freeways went together. These roadways were being built all across the country, but forging new horizons created problems, especially when underground cables needed to be moved.
Progress Isn’t Easy!
Junior lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. There was so much more to this telephone business than just the rotary receiver sitting on his father’s desk. Lifting up the handset and spinning the dial was only the beginning. More wonders would surely arrive in next month’s newsletter.
He could hardly wait!
Neither can we. All your phone “Talk” is possible, thanks to GVS, Glorious Vintage Stuff!
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