2 Long, 1 Short

If you're under age 60, you're probably clueless about the reference - although you've likely seen pictures of the related device.  And, you've likely heard the phrase, 'party line.'  We're talking telephones, here.  Old telephones.  Old systems.  In the early/mid 1900s, there were no phone numbers, just long and short ring combinations.  The phone ring combination on the farm in MN was 2 long, 1 short.

These were hand cranked phones in wood (yes, wood!) cabinets, attached to the wall, usually near the front door of the house.  To make a call, you lifted the earpiece and turned the little crank on the right side of the cabinet, which rang the the little bells located top front - on your phone and all phones on the party line.  Each home had it's own unique ring combination of longs and/or shorts.  You could call anyone on your party line, about 6 neighborhood homes, but that was it.  If you wanted to call someone not on your party line you had to ring the operator for assistance, 1 long.

If you heard someone talking when you lifted the earpiece, you were SOL, had to wait until the other call ended.  You had to keep lifting the earpiece every few minutes to see if the line was free.  Calls were supposed to be limited to 5 minutes but most people ignored that guideline.  If you thought the other call was running long, you'd lift the earpiece and toggle the hook a few times, causing a clicking sound that might inspire the other party line user to wrap it up.  Or not.  

Oft times, someone in a hurry would lift the earpiece and crank a call before realizing there was another call in progress.  Doing that was rude, scared the crap out of the people already on the line, pissed them off.  So, you'd quickly apologize and hang up.   

 Privacy there was not.  You could listen to any conversation on your party line, and eavesdropping (rubbernecking) was common.  A favorite family trick was to catch a sibling listening in, sneak up behind them and holler, "Gerry Delaney rubbernecking!"  Then, run like hell to avoid getting whacked.  Discretion was the better of valor, me being the youngest and smallest. 

Another, nastier, trick was to ring your own phone, then quickly hang up.  This caused all the other phones on the party line to ring.  Of course, I - never mischievous and always innocent of all charges - would never think of doing such a dastardly deed.