Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Where's Alexander Graham Bell When I Need Him?

One Christmas -- at least (mumble, mumble) years ago, my brother (the one who always buys me small kitchen appliances) bought me a wall phone.  It's a great phone ... but it's fallen off the wall a few times, and there's a big chunk of plastic missing from the receiver, and the 47th replacement cord has a short in it.  (It's long.  I like to walk around the kitchen when I talk.)  It's time for a replacement.

I will probably be the last woman on the planet with a landline.  Why?  Because I loath cell phones and handheld wireless phones.  You can't rest them on your shoulder when you're in for a marathon call.  Your arm gets tired after a while and all the blood drains from your fingers.

I like that when the power goes off, the landline is still there.  I have a cell phone and it takes about five minutes from the time I turn it on until it finds a signal.  In an emergency, it's the pits.

The problem now is finding a phone that I can put on my shoulder.  Ain't no such animal.  Wireless only.  Sure they're great if you want to walk around the house, but not much else.  (The shelf life for those phones seems to be about three years.  We keep having to replace them because the batteries go dead and it's more expensive to replace them than buy a new phone.)

In the Booktown Mystery series, Tricia has an old black Art Deco phone on her cash desk.  We had one of those when I was a kid.  It was an "illegal" extension phone.  The bell was disconnected so the phone company wouldn't know.  Now -- who cares how many phones are scattered around the house.  (We have five.)

I want that old fashioned phone.  (I've seen a few at "antique" stores, but they want too much.)  And I want one I can rest on my shoulder like the one pictured above.
I've searched the internet to no avail.

Am I the only one left who wants a REAL phone?
.

9 comments:

  1. Here are some links with corded phones. Just google corded phone for many more links.
    http://www.jr.com/category/office/telephones/corded-telephones/?JRSource=GAW.Cat_Corded_Telephones+corded+phone&gclid=CKnT2tmjtakCFcZe2god0SrILA

    or

    http://www.101phones.com/cat/1915/Corded-Phones-Banner-Home.html?cid=18110&chid=1&gclid=CP3hmNujtakCFced7QodDF_Ucg

    or
    Lots can also be found on amazon.com, here is one:
    http://www.amazon.com/Fashion-Victorian-Style-Desk-Telephone/dp/B001CUHL0O

    Hope these help! :)

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  2. Oh I found it!! (I too *always* have at least one corded phone in the house)

    http://www.amazon.com/Crosley-Kettle-Classic-Phone-CR62-Black/dp/B000ASKN90/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1308050671&sr=8-3

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  3. Kath, you are my new best friend. And it just goes to prove to me that you HAVE to have the right key word to find what you want on the Internet.

    I've found the wall phone of my dreams and already put in an order. Yay!! In a few days I'll be yakking on the phone to my Mum and loading the dishwasher with the phone on my shoulder.

    Thank you!

    Now, can you find me one of those Art Deco phones dirt cheap?

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  4. I assure you that you won't be the last person on earth with a landline. We'll be right there with you. We both despise cell phones, and my husband can't hear anything on them - he has a Clarifier phone that helps him understand what's being said. Also, we're only willing to pay one phone bill so landline it is!

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  5. We still have our land line and only use a cell phone for emergencies and when we travel. We actually have three wall phones - thanks for letting me know they might be worth something!

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  6. I have my landline. AT&T and that phone has fallen and still it keeps on working. People know to call me on my landline since I hardly answer my cell phone.

    I got my AT&T phone on Amazon.

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  7. I have my landline. AT&T and that phone has fallen and still it keeps on working. People know to call me on my landline since I hardly answer my cell phone.

    I got my AT&T phone on Amazon.

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  8. Well, I was like you -- I HATED cell phones. I couldn't hear on them, mine was a BEAR to make a call on, and I could NOT understand why my friends wanted to call me on the @#$$! phone that resided in my purse & I missed almost all their calls. *sigh* THEN, hubby had to upgrade his smartphone & got me a smartphone, too. (Got a great deal on his upgrade & since he'd been on that smartphone plan for years, got an impressively good deal on MY plan, too.) NOW I understand why people lug their cells around with them everywhere. The speaker feature on mine actually WORKS, I can hear wonderfully well, and I don't have to tire my elbow out holding it to my head (and my shoulder doesn't meld with my ear, either).

    As for landlines, yes, we still have one with multiple extensions all over the house & basement. They are wireless, I admit, so it's a tad dicey when the power goes off, but they all have speaker features, so we can go anywhere in the house and plunk the handset down & use the speaker feature. Nice when I'm cooking/working in the kitchen or on the computer to be able to talk and use my hands. Oh. And when the power goes out, we use the cell phones! :-)

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  9. I'm so glad you found your phone!! I believe the second comment I made has the link for the art deco phone for you! :) (they have a bunch on amazon by that company so search away!)

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