Click on the image to enlarge
Where would you find this?
Answer:
This old style phone can be found inside the Market House shop on Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A.
Click on the image to enlarge
The responses I received were:
Jeff Toro
It's the Market House on Main Street.
Jayson Weingarten
That is one of the Party Line Telephones found in the shops of Main Street USA.
John and Heather
This phone is in the Market House shop on Main Street.
Tim & Malinda
In the Market House on Main Street.
Kirby
The Party Line phone is in the Market House on Main Street U.S.A.
I had a melancholy few minutes on my last evening in Disneyland in 2002 by stopping by and listening to the Party Line while watching the park emptying.
-- That sounds like a nice way to end the day.
Here is the transcript of the party line conversation, provided by Jeff Toro, in the email he sent with his answer: (Note: This is possibly only one of many random conversations.)
SFX: (sound of hand-crank phone ringing "1 long 3 short" and numerous clicks on line)
Mama: All right, now, the rest of you on this party line, you can all hang up now. I'm only callin' Dinglinger's Store and there won't be anything you can gossip about at all.
SFX: (sound of numerous hangup clicks on line)
Mama: Hello, Mr. Dinglinger?
Mr. Dinglinger: Yep.
Mama: This is me. Is my daughter Annie got to your place yet? If she has put her on, will ya? And tell her to hurry, because my preserves is about to cook over.
Hello, Annie?
Annie: Yes, this is me, Mama.
Mama: Will you ask Mr. Dinglinger if...uh, wait a minute. Just hold the wire.
Miss Flump? Auralee Flump? Will you please get offa this line? Now, I know you're there 'cause I can hear your clock tickin', and it sounds like it's slow, too.
SFX: (sound of hangup click on line)
Mama: Hello. Annie?
Annie: Yes, I'm here. What did you want?
Mama: Ask Mr. Dinglinger what his steak is worth today.
Annie: I already asked him, Mama. Eleven cents a pound.
Mama: Eleven cents!!? Who does he think he is, Jesse James? Jing, this family's going to break us yet. Your father payin' three dollars for a hundred cigars! There goes a whole week's pay up in smoke! And what did he do last year? Went out and paid seven dollars and eighty cents for a suit of clothes, and now he wants steak at eleven cents a pound. I think he's lost his mind!
Annie: But, Mama, I asked about the ham, and it's nine cents a pound.
Mama: Nine cents a p-...!!? I don't know how he expects me to make ends meet on our budget with things so high. Annie girl, you mark my words: Don't you ever get yourself married unless you find a man who's got three hundred dollars saved and makes a steady eight dollars a week.
Annie: I promise, Mama.
Mama: Say, uh, ask Mr. Dinglinger is he's got them fancy, new...uh...wait a minute.
Miss Flump? Hoo-hoo! Miss Flump, would you please hang up your phone again? I know you're on the line 'cause I can hear you breathin'. Still got that chest cold, ain't ya? If you'da put on a fried onion poultice like I told you, you wouldn't be wheezin' that way. Now go on, hang up, like I asked ya.
SFX: (sound of hangup click on line)
Mama: Okay, Annie?
Annie: Yes, Mama. I'm here.
Mama: Will you uh, ask...uh, ahem... (lowering her voice) will you ask Mr. Dinglinger if he's got any of them new-fangled ladies' union suits like I read about in The Saturday Blade?
Annie: He's got them, Mama. Eighty-nine cents a pair. Shall I get the...
Mama: SHHH! No, no. Just tell him to put away a size forty-two for me and keep his mouth shut. I don't want this all over town. But Jing, getting' up at 4:00 am, cookin' six hours a day, cuttin' wood, carrin' out ashes, churnin' butter, haulin' in water, a woman's got to have somethin' substantial on her back.
Annie: Anything else, Mama?
Mama: Nooo, I guess not, but you mind what I told you, Annie. Marry somebody who's makin' a steady eight dollars a week! And you'll have to pretty up to catch one doin' that good. Do like I did: Put them cucumber slices on your face to bloom up your complexion. Rub a little kerosene on your hair to make it shine. A girl's gotta pretty up to grab a man these days. Now, hurry on home. And uh, better bring a ham, even if it is nine cents a pound, or your father'll hit the ceiling. Good-bye.
Annie: 'Bye, Mama. Be right home.
SFX: (sound of hangup clicks on line)
Announcer: The conversation you just heard was not exaggerated, but was typical of the 1890s. Most of us take our present-day conveniences for granted, but next time you shop, think of the miracle of the modern food store.
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