Does anyone have a phone that has a party line?
By Feona1962
@Feona1962 (7526)
United States
February 29, 2008 3:47pm CST
I was reading a book and they mentioned party line on the phone..They couldn't talk about private information for fear of others listening in..Now when I was growing up my step aunt had a party line and she listened in on everyones phone conversations...I thought this to be very rude....My oldest sister did the same thing...I don't know if party lines are still available now...
Did you ever have one and did you listen in on others conversations? Or did you know if anyone else listened in? What do you think of it?
I wouldn't use the phone if there was party line connected to mine...
7 people like this
15 responses
@queenofarms (1659)
• United States
29 Feb 08
When i was younger we had a party line...And to be honest I did listen to them and I'm sure they listened to us...I found out my neighbor was cheating on her husband...It was terrible too because you had to wait for them to end their conversation before you could make a call...I remember them getting on the phone saying can I please use the phone....I'm not sure if they have party lines anymore...
1 person likes this
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
29 Feb 08
Sneaky aren't you....*smiles*...Did your neighbor ever know that you knew about the affair?
@queenofarms (1659)
• United States
29 Feb 08
Oh no I was afraid to tell her...I value my life to much....LOL
@jhl930 (3601)
• United States
29 Feb 08
I have heard about this before and actually know of someone that can hear other peopels conversations but it's not hteir fault because the telephone company did something to their phone by accident and now they can hear other people's conversations sometimes...and you know that you would worry about that everytime you were on the phone with someone if you thought that someone were listening to your call..
@Feona1962 (7526)
• United States
29 Feb 08
I can understand the mix up...I sure hope they got it fixed...I would have been very nervous...
@annettenasser (2992)
• Kuwait
1 Mar 08
No we dont have partyline but since we are using wireless phone i dont know why sometimes there is a voice from other lines which is wierd and a lot more...
@CatsandDogs (13963)
• United States
1 Mar 08
We didn't have a party line but two of our neighbors did and one would listen in on any conversation that went on. One always knew we couldn't say anything private out of fear someone was listening in. I couldn't live like that and would have to have it fixed and never did know why these people kept it but they did and probably still have it although the older lady has passed away.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
1 Mar 08
When I lived with parents (Thousands of years ago) we had a party line with someone about 3 doors away from us. fortunately they never seemed to use the phone and I cannot remember any occasions when both phones were picked up at the same time. I was appalled at the time because the rental cost was still the same as a single line would be and my parents were never consulted before the line was activated.
I did not think that any such lines had existed for a very long time.
@twils2 (1812)
• United States
1 Mar 08
Hi Feona,
When I was a kid growing up we always had a party line on our phone. As I remember, you had to pay quite a bit extra to have a private line. I think I remember picking up the phone and hearing other peoples conversations but I never cared to listen to whats being said. After all, I wwas young and didnt understand most of what was being said anyway. Nowadays I dont think the idea of a party line even exists any more. The last time I had a home phone, I dont remember being givin that option.
Take care, Terry
@lordwarwizard (35747)
• Singapore
1 Mar 08
Oh yes, my house phone is a party line.
When I was young, yes, we may eavesdrop now and then lol but not any more.
We don't listen to one another's conversation now.
Besides, we will know. If someone picks up the phone, we can hear a distinct sound and go make sure no one is listening before continuing the conversation.
@missbdoll (1165)
• Australia
1 Mar 08
many years ago I lived in a house that when you picked up the phone to make call you got otherpeoples conversations.Even in another place I use to "crossed lines and yo could not hang up the phone cause other people were still there.
@Jimmy3371 (142)
• United States
1 Mar 08
I remember when I was a teenager we had a party line for a little bit now I never listened to anyone talk but I know the lady would listen to us its funny we could hear her breath the bad part was she was the lady next door we would get so mad. My Dad did get a private line these days there is no such thing as a party line thats a word from the past thank God thats not saying people can not listen to your cell phone or anything but the old party line is a blast from the past
@nomoso (650)
• India
1 Mar 08
definitely i wont hear others conversation but i have not heard about this kind of party lines may some people trace others lines but i don't think it is legal in our country...
have you ever heard anyones conversation?
@above31rubies (1863)
• United States
29 Feb 08
We had a partyline when I was a kid. No idea if anyone listened in on anyone else. Thankfully, we no longer had it when I was a teenager!
Now not only do we not share a line with other families, we don't even share one within our family...every member has their own cell phone! (well, except for the 7 yr olds...lol.)
@carmelanirel (20942)
• United States
29 Feb 08
Oh, what a nightmare memory this brings up..
We had one at my parent house and as a kid, I probably did listen in sometimes, but the real nightmare was I was a typical teen, loved to talk on the phone for hours..And these people would get on and off a few times and then interrupt me wanting me to get off..
Unfortunately I was also a rude and selfish teen, so I was pretty mean to those people...
