When I was a little girl, my days revolved around helping my mother fold the laundry, playing dress up in her clothes, and watching the soap opera ‘All My Children’. Sometimes I even used to ‘fake’ being sick, just so that I could stay home from school, to walk around in my mother’s purple high-heeled Candie shoes.
Ah, yes, the good ole’ days.
Back when all I had to worry about was choosing an ‘Outfit’ for my Cabbage Patch Doll, Francesca.
Of course, back then there was no such thing as a cell phone.
Or even a cordless phone for that matter.
However, we did have one telephone, located in the kitchen, colored Avocado green, that had a seemingly never-ending cord. Seriously. You could walk laps around the house, while talking on that phone.
Now, while I don’t have very many vivid childhood memories, I can clearly remember trying to interrupt MY OWN MOTHER, on the phone, looking, walking, talking, and acting, EXACTLY like the person in the video below.
And it makes me laugh.
Every. Single. Time.
* So tell me people…
1. Was your mother ever like that?
Or…
2. Have you ever been like that mother?
And…
3. Did anyone else, have that kitchen phone?
Oh. My. God. This is ME talking to my BFF (except I don’t have the wires on my phone). We did have a phone like this when I was a teenager talking to my boyfriends. My dad would set a timer for how long I could talk on the phone and I’d stretch the phone all the way into the other room so my stupid brother wouldn’t make gagging noises when I was on the phone. LOL!!
Oh, the Slimline phone with the 50 ft. cords. Haven’t thought about those in years. My best memory about those phones is when I was in high school, my best friend live just a few miles away but had one of those funky numbers that didn’t require the 1 to dial long distance but still was a toll call. After our families each got a phone bill for over $200.00 a “no using the phone” moritorium was issued. Painful. $200 in the late 60’s might have been the equivalent of the mortgage payment. We were lucky that bodily harm didn’t come into play.
Oh, the Slimline phone with the 50 ft. cords. Haven’t thought about those in years. My best memory about those phones is when I was in high school, my best friend live just a few miles away but had one of those funky numbers that didn’t require the 1 to dial long distance but still was a toll call. After our families each got a phone bill for over $200.00 a “no using the phone” moritorium was issued. Painful. $200 in the late 60’s might have been the equivalent of the mortgage payment. We were lucky that bodily harm didn’t come into play.
Is it uncool to admit I still have one of those phones with the 50ft twisty cord? I keep it in the garage as back up in case the battery on the cordless dies. But I have to fess up – I’ve done that a few times myself. Talking with the girlfriend or parents at length while walking around the kitchen/den doing stuff (they call it multitasking now). Cordless phones made it easier, but it was funny to be tethered to the wall and walk out of range and drop the phone.
Just between you and me, I once did a 1.5 hour phone interview for a new job. In the span of 90 minutes, you have to realize that, at some point, “nature calls”….
I grew up in Germany since my dad was in the Army. I never developed a phone habit because incoming and outgoing calls charged by the minute, even local calls. Some of the kids I went to school with even had locks put on the phone so they wouldn’t run up the phone bill too much. I was completely amazed when I visited the States as a teen to find out that yes, you could talk as long as you wanted on a local call and some kids even had their own phone lines and their parents weren’t even millionaires! So yeah ,my whole family can compress any phone conversation into less than 60 seconds to this day.
“Approve”
Ahhahahahhhahahaha!
Oh my goodness! Once I ran up an 800.00 phone bill.
I didn’t realize calling my friends in California would be so expensive!
I thought my mother was going to kill me!
Agg,
Get. Out.
You still have a phone like this?
Now that’s awesome!!
And, I’m seriously laughing at your last sentence!
Wow. Impressive.
I can’t wrap up any conversation that quickly!
Thanks for stopping by, Tracy!
Wow. Impressive.
I can’t wrap up any conversation that quickly!
Thanks for stopping by, Tracy!
HILARIOUS video, Meleah!!!!
OMG….it was BRILLIANT!
And did you notice that there was a cordless phone sitting on the counter in his/her kitchen? – HA!
“we did have one telephone, located in the kitchen, colored Avocado green, that had a seemingly never-ending cord. Seriously. You could walk laps around the house, while talking on that phone.”
Yes, I we had the same thing in out house (yellow). Except we only had a short cord, so you had stand there and talk for an hour. I hated it!
Later, when I got older, my father had a phone installed in my own bedroom. It was one of those Princess phones. Remember those? Mine was blue!
Thank god for the invention of cordless, right?
X
$800.00 That would have gotten me put up for adoption at the very least and possibly my dad would have been charged with manslaughter. I suspect the jury wouldn’t have found him guilty, though, because of the $800.00 phone bill. It would of been ruled as justifiable homocide.
Agg79…pardon me for just jumping in here but this is the reason I hate Skype. No one needs to know what I am doing when I am yakking on the phone. (sorry for intruding on your comment)
I loved this SO MUCH. And I remember when the biggest piece of new phone technology we got at home was that clear phone jack plug with the rotating connector that kept the cord from twisting up. And how, before we got it, you’d have to dangle the handset and let it twirl around so the cord would be unkinked enough for you to have a ‘private conversation’ in the other room.
My sister and I still rag on my mother for being able to yell at us at the top of her lungs until the phone rang, stop abruptly, answer it in her sweetest Donna Reed voice, then hang up and go right back to yelling.
Ahhahahahah!
You had a blue princess phone? That is priceless!
And, don’t you love when he/she says, “don’t worry I won’t say anything”
then she picks up the phone and tells her friend “hey it’s me, guess who I
just spoke to?”…..
Hysterical!
Ahahahahahahahahahah!!
And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten you have something for me on your blog.
I am making all my internet rounds today. I have a lot of catching up to do.
But, I will definitely be over to your page today, Cheryl!
Thanks for being patient with me.
It’s been such a hectic month!
Oh I love when my readers talk to each other, and comment to each other!
YAY!
And, I dislike Skype too, Cheryl.
I never video chat, with anyone!
Oh yes, my mom was the same way!
She would be screaming at us, until the phone rang!
And, we never got the detangler for the phone cord, it just stayed tangled!
Unless, of course we spent 10 minutes unwinding it!
Oh Lord help me! That is soooo spot on!! We had that phone and my Mom definitely used it like that. My sister used to stretch it to her bedroom and shut the door on cord so she could move around on the other side. I used to have to duck under the cord to leave my room. Thank you for sharing this, it has made my day!
yes yes and YES! ahahahhaaaa….. I even remember phone that DIALED. xoxo
I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I do!
AHaHhaHAHahahhAhahhaH!!
High-la-rious! Thanks for that; I needed it today. So, yes, we had that phone cord in our house, too, and the only person not guilty of that practice was my father. We all wandered the house, getting both the cord and our words tangled up as we went along. I tried to tell my teenager about the whole long phone cord thing and how when you went on vacation in the summer you just didn’t talk to your boyfriend at all unless you had enough pocket change and a nearby pay phone.
I am wetting my pants. That is sooo damn funny. Oh, yeah… I remember that phone and that cord, but I’m surprised you do. You’re such a youngster. Love that video. Thanks for the laughs.
too funny. i hated the phone yesterday. i hate it today and i will hate it tomorrow and forever and a day. totally remember the phone on the wall though with the loooong cord. loved it when it snapped back and crashed into the wall. bwhwhahahahhaha
Yay! Good. I’m glad you laughed MomZombie! You did need that!
You’re welcome, Jayne!
Well, I was raised in the 70’s-80’s. So we totally had that phone.
And, my mom wore that same exact velour purple zip-up robe thingy!
I’m not too big with chatting on the phone either, Valerie.
When I was younger, I loved it.
Now? I’d much rather text. Or talk face to face, in person.
Funny video and we had a phone like that too!
“Approve”
Hmmm..
I wonder why all of your comments keep getting flagged.
That’s why I have to write “APPROVE” when it shows up in my email.
Annoying.
1. No
2. No
3. Yes and I still have one.
You do, Jaffer? OMG. I think I want to BUY one for my room!
This is the one I have
http://www.amazon.com/29280FE1-Basic-Corded-Slimline-Phone/dp/B0013282A4
The
cord actually stretches down to the floor.
Jaffer
I love it!
Very funny video! But that lady should shave next time she let’s somebody video her! LOL
I grew up in a house with two brothers, no sisters. We didn’t have a phone thing like this. BUT, I have three daughters. They can yackety yak with the best of them!
Ferd
Ah yes, I have NO IDEA how you’ve handled 3 daughters!
Oh, my. While I’m not quite so old that I remember Bell inventing the phone, I DO remember this and much, much more. Like: Having to dial the neighbor’s number and hang up for it to ring and GUESS when they answered–all because we were on a ‘party line.’ TALKING to the operator and giving her the number to connect you to. Getting all modern with a ‘push-button’ phone. Having a SECOND phone installed upstairs!!!! (And that phone was put in the hallway right outside of the bathroom–the installer wouldn’t put it IN the bathroom like The Mother wanted. :D) But, I think the greatest day of all was when the guy added the extra-extra-extra-long cord on the kitchen phone so that The Mother could reach every corner of the downstairs without interrupting her conversations. I believe that was the day that marathon phone calls began in The Parent’s house. (And I STILL have a corded wall phone in my kitchen, just in case the power goes out and the cordless ones won’t work. I have, however, eliminated the loooooooong cord. :D)
I still think the part of phone call evolution that I am loving the most is the elimination of long-distance charges. (IF you have the proper plan, of course.) I REGULARLY would have long-distance charges of $100 per month when the girls were little and THAT was definitely a source of unhappiness for The Husband. I used to try and make a special meal on the days that the bill would come in. 😉 However, I never was so shocked as I was when I got the bill for the phone call from The Husband when he was on one of his Navy cruises: $150+ and we talked less than 5 minutes! And don’t forget, this was back in the day when people STILL were trying to remember why they thought those bell-bottomed, tie-dyed, un-hemmed pants were a good idea. THAT was A LOT of money for a phone call.
This is my mother back in the late 70’s, early 80’s. She would do everything with that kitchen phone attached to her ear… and talk and talk and talk while telling me to shut up and not interrupt her. I love and adore her more and more everyday.
OH!!! CMK!!!! I LOVE IT!!
Ahahahahahahahaha!
Best. Comment. Ever.
Totes! This is 100% my mom in the 70s-80’s!
Not me and not my mom… BUT… I sure do know lots of other mothers who are like that on cell phones. Just this weekend we were in a restaurant and a mom was at the table with three of her kids. Instead of enjoying the time talking, she sat on her cell phone half of the time… I felt bad for the kids!
Cheryl,
No sweat. I hate Skype as well, but I just figured it was cause I was an old “fuddy-duddy”. Nobody in their right mind wants to see me chatting in my shorts.
And Mel,
A video chat with you would be an interesting experience. Been out for a spin in Poppa Sye’s car, yet?
Congrats on the personal writing project. I have been writing with pics a lot myself lately with the craziness of end of school.
I had that phone and yes, I have been that mom with a cell phone — LOL!
🙂
Traci
Yes. I have still have a phone like that. Comes in handy when the zombie apocalypse comes and the power goes out for your cordless/iPhone goes dead.
HAhaha! Yup indeed! When I was a kid, it seemed like our phone cord could reach the neighbor’s house for shit’s sake. They don’t make em like they used to…
I had that phone but mine was tan. The cord was so long you could walk upstairs with it or out to the washing line to hang out the laundry. It was awesome. I still walk around when I talk on the phone (even though it is cordless) because of that phone I had as a kid. What a great post. Such a cool memory to revive!
Haha… we had a phone with a ginormous cord when I was growing up too. My mom never really talked like that, but she has this cackle that she does if you really crack her up. It’s so funny.
Well that’s just rude!
Hi Agg!
I’m not big on video chat AT ALL!
As for Poppa Sye’s car, it’s been interesting to say the least!
Blog post chock filled with details to follow!