U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2022
    • Program Suggestions
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair Traveller
      • Russian Literature
      • A Different View Of German History
      • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
      • Demystifying Psychology
      • German - Beginners
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Making the Most of the Internet >
          • + Ian's Blog
          • + Links and references
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Tech Savvy Drop In
        • Travel Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Col
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • Armchair History
    • Art Appreciation
    • 'As Time Goes By' >
      • Home
      • Ritual
      • Memories Treasure Chest
      • Our Stories - by writer
      • Our Stories - by topic
    • 'Be Connected'
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Chat n' Chew
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
  • Com-G
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Family Research - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Graeme's Glossary
    • Family Research - Beginners
    • Film Discussion Group
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German - Advanced >
      • Home
      • Lessons
  • I-R
    • Investment
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Lifeball
    • Meditation
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder Group
  • S -Z
    • Saturday Cards - '500'
    • Singing for Fun
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Android
    • Tech Savvy Beginners - Apple
    • Tech Talks
    • The News - Fact or Fiction?
    • The Sky's the Limit
    • Wine Appreciation
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Program Guide 2022
    • Membership Application 2022
    • Month Overview Semester 2 2022
    • Full Timetable with Dates Semester 2 2022
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News - General
    • August Newsletter
    • Calendar 2022
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
    • Gallery 2022
    • Gallery 2021
    • Gallery 2020
    • Gallery 2019
    • Gallery 2018
    • Gallery 2017
    • Gallery 2016 >
      • + Christmas Lunch 2016
    • Gallery 2015 >
      • Christmas Lunch 2015
    • Gallery 2014
    • Lifeball Video
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Wangaratta
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
  • Contact

'The Telephone'

17/7/2020

0 Comments

 
Sifting through the old boxes, I came across a corded touch pad telephone. This prompted a flood of memories from days past.

Whilst the touch phone is still in use today, it has been very much superseded by the cordless model.

I do not use the landline system anymore, instead utilising the mobile device network for our communication needs.

In the early days the automated telephone system was not available for every home to have a telephone, so public phone boxes were strategically placed around the suburbs. Unfortunately in early 1950, the suburb of Lalor was very new and the only public phone in our area of the suburb was at the railway station, some 560 mt. from our house. The streets were unmade and when wet, were a challenge to navigate, especially for my mother when pushing a pram with a child in it. The local families actually had a large wooden box at the railway station where people would leave their gumboots whilst away on the train. Most people left their phone calls until they were in the vicinity of the station. The automated telephone installation did eventually come in late 1952, but the eastern end of our street was one of the last areas to be connected.  We were not connected for some time, instead relying on nearby family members in an emergency.
​
My second experience with the telephone was at my Grandparents property near Woomelang in the Mallee. This line was known as the ‘party’ line, with two wires strung on insulators between mallee tree trunks. 
Picture
​There were no allocated phone numbers, just a special series of ring sequences. These ring sequences were a series of either ‘short’ or ‘long’ rings. Each person on the ‘party’ line had a different sequence. I always remember my grandmother and aunties racing to the phone, holding the hanger down and lifting the receiver to listen in on the other conversations. Nothing was private in the bush, everybody knew everybody’s business. To call outside the area you had to ring the exchange in the nearest town and have the telephonist connect you to the desired number.

I often wonder if our grandparents could see what is available in communication equipment today, what would they think?
​
Barry O’Connor.
July 2020.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    'Memories Treasure Chest"

    ​The task for late July is to dip into our   Memories Treasure Chest’ 
    (1) Create/Draw upon an ‘Memories Treasure Chest’ in a shoe/other box/album/suitcase containing objects and artefacts such as maps, menus, theatre programs, an old report card, vials of perfume, a garment, treasured photographs, a souvenir, an expired passport…
    (2) Select two items from the treasure chest as creative prompts – what do they mean to you? What were you doing, why; what were you thinking at the time this object related to your life? (250 words for each object)  Feel free to attach a photo or two to the email to include with your story on the web site.   
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Barry O'Connor
    Bev Morton
    Carmyl Winkler
    Joy Shirley
    Margaret Nelson
    Ray O'Shannessy

    Archives

    July 2022
    July 2020
    June 2019

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
COVIDSafe Plan
U3A Benalla & District Flier 2022
​Membership Application/Renewal Form 
​
Program Guide 2022
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2022
Semester 1 Timetable Month Overview 2022
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla & District. 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria