The telephone: A history

I have a vivid memory of the kitchen in the old house where we lived until I was nine. It was papered in an ornate, outdated mustard-and-avocado design. Two tall windows looked into the backyard, and the kitchen table where we shared dinners was nestled between them. Most clearly, I recall the phone that hung on the wall. It was, as most phones were when I was nine, a corded phone. The cord could be stretched to about ten or twelve feet, which allowed my mom to have lengthy conversations as she prepared dinner for our family. I remember sliding my fingers up through the ringlets of the cord, and ducking under it as I entered the kitchen when Mom was in conversation.

We moved, and the phone stayed. We did have a corded phone in our new house, but it was in the basement and no one ever used it. Eventually it was removed. In our new house, all of the phones were cordless. This was a new phenomenon that allowed my mom to talk anywhere in the house – making dinner in the kitchen, folding laundry in her bedroom, even sitting outside on the patio! What a novelty.

The telephone had come a long way since the olden days when one had to turn a crank and call the operator in order to get connected to talk to someone. I wasn’t actually alive in “the olden days,” but I knew about those old phones because I used to be an avid fan of Lassie reruns. In fact, most of my telephone history comes from a Reba McEntire song from the ‘90s in which she belted out: “Back in eighteen seventy-six an old boy named Bell / invented a contraption that we know so well. / By the nineteen fifties, they’re in ev’rybody’s home. / It’s a crazy little thing they call the telephone.”

When I was in junior high, cell phones were high-tech and futuristic. And big. You only saw them in movies, and they definitely didn’t fit in anyone’s pocket. In fact, a movie created in the last two decades can be pretty accurately dated based on the size of the cell phones (not to mention the size of the characters’ hair). By late high school, several of my classmates had cell phones, and most of their parents did. I didn’t go to college with a cell phone, though. I had a corded landline – and I actually used it!

About halfway through college, my family finally subscribed to a family cell phone plan; Mom abstained, as she felt she did not need one.

Now the world is all kinds of crazy: You can check your e-mail, surf the Internet, write your blog and tweet from your cell phone. You may never have anyone’s undivided attention ever again. Land lines are a thing of the past. In fact, I can’t think of a single friend in my generation who actually has a land line. We’ve all got cell phones and the logic is simple: Why pay two phone bills when a cell phone can meet all your communication needs?

Joe and I subscribed to this logic and have always used cell phones exclusively. However, Joe recently started a new job that required us to have home internet installed. With the deal came the offer of a free home phone line with free long distance for one year. “Why not?” we said. “If we use the home phone, we can save on cell phone minutes.”

So far my mom has called twice, we’ve had two wrong numbers and two telemarketers. Most of our friends don’t even know we have a home phone number. In fact, I don’t even know my new phone number.

All of a sudden, I feel kind of archaic and outdated. Plus I feel like a loser because no one calls me (except my mom). If you want to call me at home, let me know and I’ll give you my number. I’ll just have to look it up in my cell phone first.

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