Way back in 1969 when I was first married, my Husband and I moved into our very first home together with our Daughter Sarah, who was then 3 months old. Prior to that we had been living with my Mother.
In those days one didn’t buy ones telephone but it came as part of a package with the rental of the telephone line.
The trimphone had not long been invented and of course as a young couple we wanted the newest thing on the market, so I chose to rent a two toned blue trimphone. The trimphone had a funny little warble as a ring tone, which at that time was also a great novelty because up until then there had been only the one ring tone in the whole of the UK for all phones.
Of course as the years passed and more and more choices arrived for styles of phones and as we started to be able to buy phones privately, at some point my trimphone was discarded for a newer model.
As I am now moving into my new and last home that I will ever have, I decided that for fun, I would once again like a trimphone as an extension in my bedroom. I find it rather ironic that my very first home and now my very last home will have this piece of equipment.
Of course now with integral answerphones, push button dialing and all the other bits that go with the modern telephone, this trimphone is totally impractical to use alone, but great fun as an added extra.
On their first invention trimphones, obviously, in those days, had a manual dial, but in the early 70s they changed the style to have a square pad of push button dialing. As you can see the replica I have recently bought is the original manual style of dialing.
My new home is far too small to warrant a 2nd phone, but then again people are fond of ringing me early in the morning while I am still in bed, so a phone beside my bed will come in handy even though it would be only a few short steps to get out of bed and walk across the floor to pick up the main line. But aren’t we all entitled to a little silliness sometimes?
December 16, 2009 at 3:38 pm
LOL I’m old enough to remember dial phones, party lines and the phone package! Before cordless phones, people use to have the extra long handset cords that would stretch forever.
December 16, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Oh we were lucky when I was a child. Not only did not many people have phones but those that did had those dreaded party lines you mention. My eldest Sister worked for BT at the time and as such we were allowed a private line. In those days a call of any length cost one penny.
December 16, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Oh God – I remember party lines. If there was an urgent call to be made, I would be sent round next door to plead with the neighbours to get off the phone! And somehow, we managed to skip the trimphone stage – we had the classic dialler for years and then wall-phones. But my gran got a trimphone when they first came out, and we used to get very excited when it rang – all chirruppy in her hallway. She used to have a proper telephone table with a seat attached, and one thick directory tucked in a cranny underneath. No-one was ex-directory then, because it was classy to have your own phone. (And no-one abused it with sales calls!!!) Making a phone call on Grandma’s proper seat was a big moment!
December 16, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Rofl. I remember those telephone seats. My eldest sister had one for years in her hallway.
I’ve tested my trimphone by plugging it into Sarah’s line and Yup, the chirrup is still the same, lol.
December 16, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Wow going back into memory lane here and I am trying to remember what we called those phones lol.