My sister went away to college in the early 1960s. "Away", in this case, meant about 400 miles (that's 643.7 kilometers, accord to Digital Generation Unit Conversion) - from Los Angeles to Berkeley. Perhaps we had long distance calls before then, but these are the first I distinctly remember. They were accompanied by a well-established ritual. Through the operator, Libbe would make a person to person collect call to herself. That was our sign that she was home and awaiting a call. We wouldn't accept the charges but immediately afterwards would dial direct to her. Before doing so, of course, we'd place the three-minute egg timer next to the phone and turn it over when we started the conversation. Three minutes, after all, was considered a long call!
 

What can I say? I've searched for a photo of an egg timer that looks like the red plastic one that we used for so many years at home, but all the examples I've wasted my time looking at on the web are fancy items, not the simple and practical non-collector's item we used. I still hope that Mom will find it and that Mark will photograph it. Until then, this well known example will have to suffice.

Today I'll receive a call from Mom (from the other side of the world) that can go on for almost an hour, and she doesn't seem to mind at all. And the boys somehow instinctively know that there's nothing special about a call of this sort: their mother calls from Canada and they non-chalantly say that they're busy and that they don't want to speak with her at the moment.

Go to: Another Connected Family