Rotary phones: history & trivia of dial phones

Electronic push-button phones debuted at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle and quickly kicked rotary dial phones to the curb. But like many things retro, old dial phones are making a comeback. And why not? Retro phones make a cute statement piece for any room. The ratchety zip that accompanies the dialing of each digit makes every call a sensory experience. And best of all, they bring back fond memories of visiting that great-grandparent who stored their vintage rotary phone in a phone nook.

To help you prepare for the rotary phone rebirth, here’s a look at the history of rotary phones, a bit of trivia to impress your friends, and even instructions for how to dial a number. But before you read on, take our quick 6-question quiz to see how much you already know.

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Who invented the old dial phone?

As unlikely as it sounds, the dial phone can trace its roots to an undertaker—Almon Strowger. There are conflicting accounts about what sparked Strowger’s interest, but this version seems believable. Back in the 1880s, when Almon Strowger was an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, you had to turn a crank on your phone to get the attention of the local telephone operator, tell her the number of the person you wanted to speak to, and then she would manually connect the call through a switchboard. So when a close friend died and Strowger wasn’t called to provide services, he suspected the local operator was in cahoots with a competing undertaker and diverted the grieving family’s call. This underhanded connection supposedly set Strowger on a quest to find a way that people could skip the telephone operator and make their own phone calls.

And he did. In 1892, Strowger patented his automatic telephone exchange and rotary dial designs and started the Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange Company with family and friends.

Who ya gonna call?

Just because Strowger invented a way for people to make their own calls didn’t mean it caught on right away. It took decades before dial phones were widely adopted. That’s because the transition was rolled out exchange by exchange and required impressive coordination. Exchanges are the local switching offices where calls are connected. The switchboards in each exchange had to be replaced with electromechanical switches. Every phone connected to that exchange had to be replaced with a dial telephone. And last, but not least, telephone service subscribers had to learn how to use the dial phone.

The first commercial installation of a dial telephone system was a 99-line exchange in LaPorte, Indiana, in 1892. Almost three decades later, AT&T installed its first dial telephones in the Bell System in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1919, and their last transition was in 1978 when the city of Avalon on Catalina Island converted its manual phone system. 1 We’re guessing Mayberry and Mount Pilot, North Carolina, is still waiting to make the transition away from human operators (if you know, you know).

What did dial phones look like?

The very first rotary phones used small metal pieces on the numbers of a rotary dial, but it wasn’t long before the iconic finger holes appeared, making it much easier to turn the dial. Those who didn’t want to chip their dialing finger’s nail found a pencil made a great dialing tool.

One of the first dial phone models was called the candlestick. It featured the dial on its base, a long neck with a hook for the receiver that was held to your ear, and a large transmitter (mouthpiece) at the top. In the 1930s, the black plastic dial phone with the cradle at the top for the handset became popular, but it wasn’t until 1949 that customers had a choice of colors.

Next, just about every home built in the 50s and 60s housing boom featured a rotary wall phone hanging in the kitchen. Remember the Princess phones that debuted in 1959? They included a nifty light-up dial that also served as a night-light in many a lucky child’s bedroom.

Do you know how to use a rotary phone?

Making a call on a rotary dial phone took a little getting used to—and a lot of patience, especially if the number you were dialing had a lot of 8s or 9s. Here are step-by-step instructions to use an original old dial phone:

1. Pick up the handset and listen for a dial tone—a steady tone that sounds like a swarm of bees. The dial tone tells you that the phone system is ready for you to start dialing.
2. Put your finger into the hole corresponding with the first digit of the phone number. Pull the dial in a clockwise motion until your finger hits the metal finger stop and let go. Wait until the dial rolls back to its original position—don’t force it, or you’ll have to start all over again.
3. Continue placing your finger in the hole and pulling the dial for each of the remaining digits of the phone number.
4. Listen for either an intermittent ringing signal until the person you’re calling answers, or an annoying beep, beep, beep that indicates the line is busy.

Keep in mind, in the beginning there wasn’t call waiting or voicemail, so your only option when you heard a busy signal was to hang up and call again later.

Why does a rotary telephone have letters?

Early phone numbers started with the name of the exchange that serviced all the phones in a particular location, followed by numbers. For example, you would ask the operator to connect you to Edgewood 12345. So before the transition to self-dialing could happen, the exchange names were shortened to two or three letters—a code for the exchange—to make sure the calls went to the right place. Notice the three letters above each of the numbers 2-9 on a rotary dial. Edgewood was abbreviated to ED and because E and D are both above 3, you would dial 3 twice.

The letters on the dial also came in handy later when businesses wanted vanity phone numbers because words can make numbers memorable, like 1-800-FLOWERS or 1-800-GoFedEx.

Ever wonder why there is no Q or Z on a rotary dial? Those letters were deemed unnecessary, so exchanges like Quincy had to go by another name. (Quincy in Massachusetts became GRAnite.)

Want to learn more?

If this post sparked your interest in telecommunications history, here are a few others to read:

• When area codes became a thing
• The ultimate timeline of communication technology
• Telegraphs, phones and mobile devices: a telecommunications timeline

And if you’re nostalgic for a vintage style phone of your own, check out the Ooma selection of retro VoIP phones. The latest edition is the Ooma Rotary Phone Bundle, which includes a rotary dial phone to enjoy dialing the old-school way, Ooma Telo Air to connect to your home Wi-Fi® network, and an Ooma Linx to hook up an additional phone or fax machine. The best part? Phone service is free—all you pay are the applicable monthly taxes and fees, which are typically $6 to $9—you can calculate yours here.