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These are from my grandfather's (Pre-1970) time with the Bell System. He originally had three, my mother has the other one.

Both still work after years of sitting in his barn, being covered with sawdust from the airplane he was building in retirement, although the one on the left does need to be cleaned up so the dial turns freely.

These are from my grandfather's (Pre-1970) time with the Bell System. He originally had three, my mother has the other one. Both still work after years of sitting in his barn, being covered with sawdust from the airplane he was building in retirement, although the one on the left does need to be cleaned up so the dial turns freely.

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[–] • 1 pt (edited )

There are translator boxes that convert pulse to touch tone, so yes...but you still don't have the "hook" to allow you to hang up a call. The devices were never designed to be connected 24/7.

I guess that being said, they are still completely useful for their intended purpose, you could walk into a switch or PBX that exposes a POTS line and connect it. Assuming the switch offers pulse dial, it will do the job it did 70 years ago.

[–] • 1 pt

That is pretty cool you don’t see a lot of tech that old in working condition or at least I don’t anymore.

[–] • 1 pt

There's still a lot of it at hamfests and such, but it's getting rarer as it ages.

[–] • 1 pt

That makes sense, I wonder what will be left of old tech in 100 years.