How To Use A Telephone (1927)

[pmgodfrey]

The dial tone is a humming sound that takes nine seconds before you hear it.

MMMMMMMM

MMMMMMMM

The busy signal is a "buzz -- buzz"  OH NO, BEES!

[kattykits]

"The dash is not dialed" hee hee

[wilburbonzo]

"Hello, can I speak to Mr. Lollipop?"

"There's no Mr. Lollipop here."

"Sorry wrong sucker".

[micio3062]

bel videoooooo

[CarulornTarcona]

Okay, this is good, I need to learn to use the telephone, I do not understand it very well.

[micio3062]

video abbastanza vecchio ma bello ancora oggi

[artsygirl181]

1:20 That is some "Y" they put there.

[Denalynnnful]

It shouldn't matter what kind of brand of a phone you have as long as it functions some people don't even know how to use a phone whether that's an iphone a verizon or any other kind of a phone

[micmac99]

This is the equivalent of any tutorial nowadays on how to use your satellite TV or a piece of software.

[frednora]

I wonder if this film applies to my iPhone.

[gunnare123]

Just to think many years later that we use the same sort of device to watch lesbian porn

[Teflon65]

I remember when those candlestick phones kind of made a comeback, as pieces of functional nostalgia.  I think that was after AT&T/The Bell System was broken up, and you could buy and own your own telephone. Before that, you could only rent a phone, from the phone company. I have read that in the end the Bell System wanted to be broken up, so they could go into computer oriented stuff.

[coldtemperature]

MMMMM MMMMMM at 2:10

[cme98]

awesome.

[havlorech]

If you need instructions on how to operate a telephone, check out the inclosed instruction book.

[lukebccb]

All I know is that my crappy beat up old dial telephone doesn't drop calls like the piece-of-shit iphone does!

[K9spot66]

This is remarkable. At first, I wondered where the sound was, then I was the year and thought "talkies had just started..." I was hoping this would be a "modern" short. Oh, well. If there is anyone out there who knows why there are no letters on the telephone in the film, I'ld love to know. Didn't people dial CYpress6-9876 type numbers back then? Well, I guess not. I miss this kind of stuff, even though I am only 52.

[pannoni1]

@K9spot66 Actually, the 1920s and 1930s way of dialing was generally the 3L-4N system (I have a 1923 suburban New York phone book and it uses that as the style). The 2L-5N examples are more for the 1940s-early 1960s. Plus, party lines were at their peak at the time (an extra letter after the last number, such as the 723G as shown). Smaller towns before the 1960s had fewer numbers (from 3 to 6) to dial before the area code system was established. This was near the end of the "candlestick" era.

[redmartian]

@K9spot66 The dial is most likely a #2 dial with a dial plate that did not contain Office Codes. The date of office code/exchanges varies by location. Almost most dials were modified by WE and reused so a #2 dial with this dial plate is pretty rare. the #2AE dial would have exchange letters. There were also lettering groups for party lines.

[Teflon65]

@K9spot66 I guess they didn't have the lettered, or abbreviated local exhanges until local numbers became seven digits.

[ObediahFults]

Wow, imagine that! Instructing people in English (and by example) on how to do something -- in the USA!

[sbalogh53]

That information service at 5:10 would sure give you sore arms after a while. They need to invent something to make things easier for the ladies... hmmm... let's see... an online database system. Yeah!

[Willd86]

i will make the video: how to view youtube in mobile phone??? eheheheheheh lololol

[MELONSCOFFER]

to happysomeday09  that is what phones looked like yes have you never seen any old films or actually had an education

[happysomeday09]

What the heck is that? Is that what phones used to look like??? CREEPY!

[imanacer]

6:03 Dont start dialing before you pick up the phone. Words to remember! LOL

And don't dial the dash indicated in written phone numbers!

[1MooseForSale]

Actually, blah blah bla blah

[d1995a3]

i wonder if that number still works

[cobrachoppergirl]

best thing you could ever do with a telephone line was rip the telephone off, and wire up a modem to it. and even that suxored.

[1947Desoto]

So that's when direct dial started! I wonder who did the animation.

[An805Guy]

No, this was about local dialing. Direct dial refers to long distance calls. That wasn't available until the 50's or 60's, depending on location.

[Teflon65]

@1947Desoto For years, you could still go through an operator to call long distance, but by the mid-seventies, they were wanting you to dial those numbers direct too.

[AcePilot101]

I used to own a 1941 (bakelite) Western Electric dial phone. I bought it for $5 in Yakima, Washington.

[Gibix]

Whoa shit! I live in Tri-cites dude! O.o

[blinkingblythe]

damn, first DTV and now this =\

[inkey2]

classic phone pranks kids would play way back when....call a tobacco store and ask: "do you have Prince Albert in a can?" when they say yes....you say: :Well let him OUT". Call a butcher and ask....do you have pigs feet? when they say yes...you say: "well put some shoes on they look ugly"....look up the last name "Lords" in the phone book and call them....ask them if this is the Lords residence....when they say yes, you say: " let us pray" and start praying aloud.....oops ran out of space

[FaerieCrone]

"Is Mr Wall there?"

"no"

"Is Mrs Wall there then?"

"no"

"Are any of the Walls there?"

"No"

"Well get out quick because the roof's coming down"

[inkey2]

hey, remember when phone numbers had "exchange" names...like Bigello (244), Decater (332), Lasalle (527) ....for example if your phone number was 244-5555 you would say....hey, call me at Bigello--0145. The 244 corresponded to the first 3 letters of the exchange name. Maybe I am so old that nobody remembers this....hell I'm only 55

[An805Guy]

Actually it was the first 2 letters of the exchange name, then the offfice digit plus line number; like this BI4-0145.

[02chevyguy]

@inkey2 I remember this very well from when I was a kid too, and I'm just a year younger than you. Our "phone number" was LYnwood1-1326 (591-1326).

I kinda miss the old dial phones and the bell ringers.

[rayodelsol80]

Awesome! the counties that it lists in the beginning has the county that I live in.

[LMB222]

And that's awesome?

[ImDino]

totally awesome, thats a real first-date impression

[ilovemayo123]

I like the little paper hand that comes from offscreen

[luccaonline]

This looks like the converter box instructions for the analog to digital transition, lol

[AJVGirl]

Fascintating. My grandma was probably about 3 months old when this was released.

[Alexjr1543]

Well, the rotary dial did seem more fun than an actual keypad, but the keypad works a lot better. I wonder if they'll ever invent phones with both...

[An805Guy]

They were around back in the 70's when there was a short-term need, but that didn't last long.

[truthslap]

one more thing I couldve never, ever seen without the internet.

[ThrilloVanHouten]

@truthslap It's great living in the future, isn't it? Being able to see obscure films like this with just a mouse click is amazing, when you think about it.

[hotsickle]

I can't wait for the sequel!!

[dLimboStick]

Although I'm not old enough to remember going from operator service to dial service, I am old enough to remember going from dial to push button service. It makes me feel old.

[AlienLeaderFan]

This is awesome!

61 years before I was born, lol.

[1953musicdaddy]

I remember as a kid using manual dial phones.

It is hard to imagine life without a phone these days. What would people from 1927 think

of the cell phone of today? Well i guess we could just ask a 91 year old, who would have been ten back in 1927.

[kitty1927]

That was spectacular!!!

[NipkowDisk]

I actually heard of a kid a few years ago saying the phone didn't work when he stuck his finger in the dial hole and no tone was produced!

Thanks for posting this great clip.

[turnspike]

Uh...Ahoy. This is President Coolidge. I am requesting information from you that has the greatest of national importance. Is your icebox running? Oh...well, do you like pickles in a jar, or pickles in the can? Har! Har! What a Rake! What a Jellybean! ((click))

[LittleLulu62]

Is it just me or did the animated lady at the beginning of this clip look like Ma Timbertoes from Highlights magazine? O_O

[LittleLulu62]

I wonder who made the first dirty phone call? O_o

[LordWham]

I didn't think I'd be able to watch the whole clip, but I couldn't stop..! That was pretty neat..!

[magnavox50]

This was pretty captivative for some strange reason. By the way if you were illiterate in 1927 you were screwed!

[bingcrosby1903]

"Note the dash is not dialed" I can hardly imagine how many people must have been intimidated by having to place thier own calls. (i use a candlestick with no dial, i still dont buy into this dialing nonsense, (ok, not really))

[jstewartf4president]

wow. creepy. and amazing.

[kakafan77]

thanks for sharing

[imbok]

Makes me wonder how many kids today have seen a dial telephone or would know how to use one!

Great post - I love this kind of old stuff

[carolyn1e1s]

Thank you for posting! It is a thrill for me to see this especially since I am in my 29th year employed by "Bell" a.k.a. AT&T.

[flannagan11]

Amazing artifact. Thanks for posting.

[peterbilt47]

This is fabulous.

[Cubit100]

I enjoyed the film. Imagine a filled movie house watching this while waiting for a newsreel, or the regular movie.

[sinisterscrawl]

Fantastic! I can't wait for 05/28! I'm gonna prank call people with impunity for sixty years.

Seriously, great post. I wonder how many old people couldn't get the hang of it and gave up on telephony altogether. Rotary phones were hard for me to grasp as a child. But at least now I know that the little metal dealie is called a "finger stop."

[Toledo1837]

Very informative, a tad long, but informative!

[ToonTownTerrorist]

Wow, you and I seem to have quite the similar tastes in the esotaric. Cheers to us!

[Toledo1837]

I have to admit, I could become the King of Esoteric-ness very easily if I try!

[ToonTownTerrorist]

Well that'd be hard to do with a suspended account though. Wouldn't it? Lemme know if you ever come back.

- T3