"Geoffrey S. Mendelson" wrote in message
...
N_Cook wrote:
In the UK we were deprived of Cap'n Crunch 2600 Hz whistles and the phone
routing system to go with it

I remember visiting the UK in 1984 and trying to call back to the US. The
only
way to do it was to call the long distance operator and place a request
for
your call. When your turn came up, they would call you back.

Trying to call from a pay phone at a rest stop on a motorway was a comedy
routine straight out of Monty Python. The operator needed the area code
and number of the phone I was calling from to place the call.

In those days, there were no area codes on the phones themselves nor was
there
any marking on the phone as to where I was or the exchange it was on.
All I knew was that I was at a rest stop a tour bus had made somewhere
between London and Bath.

Another time, I wantedto leave a message on an answering machine, as in
"look up the EUROPEAN size you want and I'll call you from Paris when I
can buy it". After ten minutes of standing at a pay phone in a B&B, the
oeprator finaly got through and as soon as he heard the recording, he
hung up.

Geoff.


In 1984 in the UK, you could direct dial any country in the world. I worked
for an American company then, and was on the phone to them in California
from our UK office virtually every day, as well as to our offices in France,
Germany and Holland, and customers in other countries. There were some
restrictions on direct dialling from payphones, and maybe trans-continental
was one of them, I don't remember for sure. If you could not find an area
code and exchange on a payphone, then either it was *extremely* badly
vandalised, or you weren't looking in the right place. Most had the phone
box's details, including geographical location, area code, number and
exchange, behind an armoured glass plate, mounted on the wall. The number
and area code should also have been on the phone itself, if it was a dialup
type, but this was admittedly often missing.

Arfa