First, thanks! Second, I’m glad you have a land line, that’s wonderful. I lost mine because I was moving around so much. (Maybe we will get one here in NOLA. It actually seems like a good backup .... always findable, always electrified....) The comment about your Grandma is lovely, I had an experience with a land line phone that was similar. They really do have a kind of gravitas and magic that cell phones will never have.
359-9122. No area code. "The time... is 4:00... from Mountain Bell... Temperature 58°"
This is on of my faves, Stef. So many memories, not just about the time and weather, but the phone in general. It sucked trying to win a radio contest when the phone numbers contained so many 9s and 0s.
Wow! You remember the number, that's amazing. I remember that line, and the cadence of that robot guy's voice. I was shocked there were still some time/weather/temperature lines that are still active. (And REALLY popular.) I remember my sister, who's still the champion ticket-winner, honing her manual speed-dial skills when calling radio stations and actually winning tix despite the 9s & 0s. I never mastered that skill, but as an elementary school kid I call into TalkNet and make up fake weird problems for Sally Jesse Rapahel. I got through once, and it was like being famous for 55 seconds. I was high off that for days!
I didn't know of her! She's still doing her thing, looks like: https://www.delilah.com. I'll have to check her out. BTW, did you remember NiteCaps/Herb Jepko? I only caught the very, very end of his run, and weirdly, ended up covering his funeral for the Chrony at the U. I found a huge stack of NiteStand fan mags at D.I. and still have them. Might have to do a post on that...
314-321-2222! It’s not quite the same as it was 50 years ago, but it’s still kicking!
Holy Smokes. I had no idea. That's magnificent!
Also, this was an especially fascinating Substack entry! And I still have a landline as my main phone.
First, thanks! Second, I’m glad you have a land line, that’s wonderful. I lost mine because I was moving around so much. (Maybe we will get one here in NOLA. It actually seems like a good backup .... always findable, always electrified....) The comment about your Grandma is lovely, I had an experience with a land line phone that was similar. They really do have a kind of gravitas and magic that cell phones will never have.
Every once in a while I'll call my grandma's number. She died in 1998 but for a long time the number wasn't assigned to anyone else.
359-9122. No area code. "The time... is 4:00... from Mountain Bell... Temperature 58°"
This is on of my faves, Stef. So many memories, not just about the time and weather, but the phone in general. It sucked trying to win a radio contest when the phone numbers contained so many 9s and 0s.
Wow! You remember the number, that's amazing. I remember that line, and the cadence of that robot guy's voice. I was shocked there were still some time/weather/temperature lines that are still active. (And REALLY popular.) I remember my sister, who's still the champion ticket-winner, honing her manual speed-dial skills when calling radio stations and actually winning tix despite the 9s & 0s. I never mastered that skill, but as an elementary school kid I call into TalkNet and make up fake weird problems for Sally Jesse Rapahel. I got through once, and it was like being famous for 55 seconds. I was high off that for days!
I was a huge fan of Delilah. Such sad situations.
I didn't know of her! She's still doing her thing, looks like: https://www.delilah.com. I'll have to check her out. BTW, did you remember NiteCaps/Herb Jepko? I only caught the very, very end of his run, and weirdly, ended up covering his funeral for the Chrony at the U. I found a huge stack of NiteStand fan mags at D.I. and still have them. Might have to do a post on that...
I’ve heard of herb jepko but don’t think I ever heard him. Give Delilah a listen. She’s the best. And she has, like, 30 kids.