In my mom’s lifetime she has gone from using a crank-style phone - like the one with a goose-neck mouthpiece seen on the left wall above - to having an iPhone. That always has thrown my mind for a bit of a loop - what a massive change!
But while looking at this exhibit, I got to thinking more about how nice those old crank phones must have been. To properly “ring” another number outside of your part of the line - you would have to speak to an operator to make that connection.
There would be a human available “on the line” to help you out. I brought this up to my mom and my aunt, and my aunt shared that her mother-in-law was a switchboard operator here in Ferndale. Charming, and yes she apparently always had the juiciest gossip.
Back to having someone there on the line to help though. That is the real charm I think. Though today we can get things and information so much faster, it is hard to find someone on the line to help you at times.
the rotary, the hurt
My mom also shared at the museum that the rotary phone on the far right of the shelf reminded her of the same phone in their house that she dreaded. My mom was nine years old when her dad came home from work one day not feeling well.
When the DeCarli family first got the new rotary phone at their home, everyone felt quite fancy. It was such a HUGE upgrade from the crank phone they had before. But my mom’s feelings about the phone changed over night one day.
Apparently, he had a heart attack at work that day, though nobody knew, and went to bad that same evening, and never woke up again.
My mom remembers having to phone the priest at the Catholic Church to share the news above her father.
the dream
Mom then shared about a recurring dream she has had throughout her life. She brought up the dream to her sister today. In the dream, my mom is trying to use the rotary phone to call her sister. But the phone doesn’t work, and the operator is not available.
My mom said in the dream she is always trying to phone my aunt. And it is always the rotary phone, from that one day their dad didn’t wake up.
What does it all mean? I have no idea. I simply enjoyed how a visit to a museum has a way of tickling the past to come back out into the present - in the form of a story shared from a time… not so long ago.
