TELEPHONE TABLE

TELEPHONE TABLE

Speaking of things we don't really use in the 21st century......

A phone table used to be an integral part of many homes - somewhere you could sit comfortably (this one usually had cushions) and chat for hours on the fixed line telephone to your friends and family.

Now, of course, even non-mobile phones tend to be cordless so its normal to be chatting whilst walking around the house, an unheard of luxury until relatively recently. ( I say luxury because E.g. often only one room was heated in winter and that room didn't always have the phone connection).  The change in the way we communicate has been even more profound than that and is continuing to develop quickly.  Many people today choose not to have landlines at all, and there are a number of online options that by-pass the telephone network altogether. 

Having said that, the push-button phone in the photo was still in use this year, and the owners can remember when the only way to make a call was via an operator on a party line (a limited number of lines shared by several callers), and when the phone was only ever used to make important calls.  Calling anyone outside of one's immediate area needed some thought as it was quite an expensive undertaking, and phoning overseas was almost unheard of!