How did we communicate before the internet?
In this podcast episode, Lucy and Lisette, two childhood friends who recently turned 70, reminisce about the evolution of communication technologies in their lifetime.
They discuss their early memories of rotary-dial telephones, the cost and challenges of long-distance calls, the introduction of first black and white, then colour televisions, and the progression from clunky computers to mobile phones and email. The conversation covers how these technological advancements transformed daily life and social interactions, reflecting on the significant changes they have witnessed over the past 70 years.
*The telephone in the hall*
Lucy and Lisette recall how the main – or only – phone in the house would always be in the hall when they were young. This meant lack of privacy and parents telling you to ‘Get off the phone’ when you were calling friends or boyfriends. They can recall exactly how it felt to dial a number on the old rotary dials and the sound of a 'real' phone ringing. Later, wall phones and cordless phones were exciting innovations that changed how and where you could call people.
*Social etiquette around phones*
The friends share memories of the social etiquette around using shared phone lines and the juggling involved in making calls to friends or family. Unlike calling an individual’s mobile these days, when you called from a landline (in the hall!) you never knew who would answer the phone and how long you would have to make polite conversation before asking to speak to the person you were actually tyring to call.
*The cost of communication*
Parents were always worried about the cost of phone calls, and especially international phone calls. When Lucy went to live in Australia in the late 1970s, she could only call home once a month and everyone would crowd round the phone to talk. So different from today when you can always catch up with someone on a mobile or other app on your phone, Zoom and video call at any time and keep in touch across distances so much more easily.
*When TV came along*
Lisette and Lucy’s families were both late adopters of television, so both were about 8 years’ old when a heavy box showing programmes in black and white appeared (was rented) in each of their houses. They recall how there were only a two and then three or four TV stations, how children’s TV started at 4pm and ended at 6pm, and that there was nothing on before that, or after 10pm except the ‘Test Card’. In the Netherlands and the UK, both girls watched and loved ‘The Avengers’ with Diana Rigg as Emma Peel – luckily colour television had been introduced by then.
*The internet changed everything*
Lucy and Lisette were both working when computers arrived to disrupt the business environment. Email also changed communications, as did fax machines, from paper-based communications that had to be typed up and posted or couriered to recipients. Mobile phones and car phones were big and clunky for their first few years, until everything got smaller and now a slimline mobile contains every kind of communication that’s currently available.
*Key highlights in this episode*
# Memories from a bygone era of bakelite phones with plaited cords taking centre stage in the hall of a home. Of huge square televisions with inefficient aerials and fuzzy black and white screens that were rented rather than bought.
# How Lucy and Lisette have lived through 70 years of changes in technology that have revolutionised communication in personal life and the world of work.
# Swings and roundabouts - they reflect on how communication has become much more instantaneous and ubiquitous with the rise of mobile phones, email, and messaging apps, but also how some of the intimacy and intentionality of past communication methods has been lost.
*Conclusions: Why you should listen*
Overall, the conversation provides a rich and nostalgic look at the technological and social changes that Lisette and Lucy have witnessed over the course of their 70 years, through from the 1950s to the 2020s. Tracking the development of the telephone, the television and the computer, these memories bring seven decades of social history to colourful life.
*Engage with us*
What are your memories of communications when you were young? Feel free to share in this episode of social history and memories by telling us yours, whatever age you are. Post your thoughts in the comments and don’t forget to hit the like button if you enjoyed this discussion.
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