DerbyDad03 wrote:
....

Did anybody else, in the pre-ESS days, ever deliberately call a busy
number (like your own), and then have conversations with other people
doing the same thing? Back then, the busy signal for each switch came
from a common source, and you could, sort of, talk between beeps. ...

How did you arrange these "beep talk sessions"? Did people just hang
around listening to busy signals hoping someone else joined the party?

"We were pathetic" might be the understatement of the year! g

We just cranked the handled and "Central" picked up and would plug us
onto the line--normally whether they were already talking or not...

And, of course, w/ the party line, all you had to do was pick up and
join in almost any time...

--