My family was on a party line in the late 1970s and I remember picking up the phone as a kid and being surprised that someone was already talking on the phone. My grandparents were on a party line and I remember going to pick up the phone when it rang and being told not to. The phone rang in a pattern of long and short rings to tell who the call was for.

Things have certainly changed since then. Just about every call was long distance as we lived on the wrong side of some line. We only had about 6 television stations to watch. Just a generation or two before there was no electricity in the area. I will not say I miss "the olden days" but I do miss that variety in life.