Telephone Party Lines

New history blog posts every Monday.

If you have seen the 1959 film Pillow Talk, you will remember how Jan, played by Doris Day, kept trying to use the phone only to find that Brad, played by Rock Hudson, was constantly on their party line.  A party line consists of multiple telephone subscribers connected to the same land line. 

An incoming call would ring in all the homes connected to the party line, but a different ring would indicate the call was for your household. To make an outgoing call, you had to pick up the receiver and listen to see if someone else was on the line.  If you heard someone talking, you could try again later.    

In 1930, 63% of residential Bell system customer had party lines, according to the AT& T Archives at techchannel.att.com.  Most of these customers lived in rural and suburban areas. That number increased to 75% by 1950, due partially to a need to catch up with the need for private lines following World War II.  By 1965, only 27% of customers were still using party lines. 

Richard Titus describes how a party line was the only option in his book Dunwoody Isn’t Bucolic Anymore: Vignettes, Anecdotes and Miscellaneous Ramblings of the 1950s and 1960s.  The Titus family moved to a home along Roberts Drive in Dunwoody in 1950.  The home still stands on Glenrich Drive and is identified as the Larkin Martin Home circa 1840.

When the Titus family moved into the home, they had a four-party line with a Roswell exchange.  Sometimes it was possible to have a private line for an additional fee, but this was the only phone service available to their home.  If the family made a call to anywhere other than Roswell it was considered long distance. 

Later, their service improved when it changed over to a two-party line and the second party happened to be one of their friendly neighbors.  Then the family telephone service switched from a Roswell exchange to a Chamblee exchange.  They paid extra to call Atlanta and they paid a mileage charge for calls to Chamblee.  

One of the issues of a party line was the possibility of the line being busy in the case of an emergency.  It was also a problem that people occasionally pretended they had an emergency just to get the other party to hang up the line.

In 1946, the Bell System produced a film titled Party Lines to demonstrate proper etiquette for party line customers.  Customers are encouraged to not monopolize the telephone line and not speak rudely when asking others to get off the line.  The film featured the marionettes of Bill Baird, the same puppeteer who did the marionette performance in the movie The Sound of Music. 

My grandparents had a party line in their farmhouse on Covington Highway in the 1960s. 

When this story first appeared in the Dunwoody Crier newspaper, I asked readers to contact me with their party line memories. Here are a few of those memories.

Phil Stovall remembers his family had a party line in their home near Roswell Road and Wieuca Road.  As a teenager with a sister, his sister’s frequent use of the phone was more of an issue than the party line.  As their neighbors were beginning to get private lines, Phil recalls, his father did not want the extra cost of a private line.  This is the reason why many families continued to have party lines after a private line was available.   

Susan and Tom Player moved to Dunwoody in 1968.  Party lines were typical in Dunwoody at the time.  Due to the rapid growth around Atlanta, technicians were brought in from around the country to increase private telephone lines.  Susan recalls that one of her friends met and married one of those hired for the work.

Growing up in the West End area of Atlanta, Joyce Mathis remembers her family started out with a four-party line.  Later, they switched to a two-party line.  She had fun as a child listening in on phone calls.

Mary Lou Brooks remembers when the assistance of an operator was needed to make a call.  The caller would crank the phone and wait for the operator to ask for the number they were trying to reach.  The operator then made the call for you.

When Mary Lou was a child, her mother would take the family to visit a friend with a party line in Vergennes, Vermont.  The friend’s phone number was 133 ring 3.  This meant that the phone would have to ring three times, then pause, then keep ringing until someone at the house picked up the phone.  This ring pattern is how you knew the call was for your household and not for another home. 

When Mary Lou’s family moved to Georgia and Nancy Creek Heights in 1955, they had no phone line at all.  There were not enough phone lines in this area off Ashford Dunwoody Road in Brookhaven, considered far away from Atlanta at the time. 

The family’s next home was in Warren, Ohio, where they stayed for fourteen years.  This home had a party line.  Mary Lou says you never knew who was on the line and you never had privacy.  

Another movie that incorporates the party line is Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962).  In this film, two women are on the party line gossiping and talking about their ailments every time Mr. Hobbs, played by Jimmy Stewart, needs to use the telephone in his vacation house.  

Lawson General Hospital Dental training, Co. G, MDTS

Glenn H. Curtis

I’m pleased to share the history of Glenn H. Curtis, who spent time training in the MDTS (Medical Department Technicians School) at Lawson General Hospital in Chamblee, Georgia during World War II. Curtis received dental training at Lawson between December 1942 to February 1943.

MDTS began at Lawson General in 1942 and continued into 1945. MDTS started out with 50 people being trained as laboratory technicians, 50 in dental training, 125 in medical training, 125 in surgical training, 50 in x-ray training. The full name of the training program was Medical Department Enlisted Technicians School. In 1943, the numbers had increased in each area, including 106 dental trainees. The website of AMEDD includes history of the Army Medical Department and includes data of the various Medical Department Technician Schools across the US during WWII.

In addition to treating patients at Lawson General Hospital, men (and women with the Red Cross) were being trained to provide medical and dental care to injured soldiers. Lawson reported their students trained through “lectures, demonstration, and by actually performing over and over again the various procedures. Performance of the procedures, under close supervision, is the most important part of their training.”

Glenn Curtis’ son Gary Curtis shared memories and history he has gathered about his father’s WWII service. Glenn was born Jan. 28,1920. His WWII registration card shows he was 21 years old, working as a driver for Hanna Market in Rochester, New York.

As far as his time at Lawson General Hospital in Georgia, he didn’t share much about his service. He did talk a little about Georgia Tech and could sing the school fight song. He said he enjoyed his time in school in Georgia and at Jefferson Barracks, MO, where he was sent next.

The dental training he received would eventually be used to identify victims in aircraft training crashes in the U.S. I can only imagine that this would be difficult and stressful work, with a lot of sadness and emotions.

Dental section, Day class, MDTS Lawson General Hospital February 1943

Loren Brown, a childhood friend of Glenn Curtis from Rochester, New York was also in the MDTS program at Lawson. Brown’s fiance Lois Howell and Curtis’ girlfriend and later wife, Mildred, and Curtis’ sister Joyce Curtis visited the two men in Chamblee. They stayed in a cottage at the nearby W. O. Pierce Dairy. Visitors to patients and staff of Lawson General Hospital and trainees of MDTS usually stayed in nearby homes. There were no hotels in Chamblee at the time.

Lois Howell facing camera and Mildred Curtis facing the cottage at Pierce Dairy Farm, where they stayed on a visit to Lawson General Hospital in Chamblee during WWII.

Loren Brown stands in front of the W. O Pierce Dairy Farm in Chamblee. Brown and his friend from Rochester Glenn Curtis were in the medical training program at Lawson General Hospital.

Glenn Curtis and Mildred became engaged during her visit and they went to a jeweler on Peachtree Street in Atlanta for a ring.

While at Jefferson Barracks, MO, Glenn Curtis was injured playing baseball. Baseball teams were popular at bases across the country. Curtis is documented as being at O’Reilly Hospital during the last part of 1943 and his son believes this may have been a result of the injury.

Glenn Curtis and his brother Robert registered on the same day in Rochester, New York in January 1942. Robert Curtis served with the Army in France. Glenn would like to have served overseas, but either due to his injury or the timing of his training, he remained in the U.S. Every person who served either in the states or overseas was crucial to the cause.

After the war, Curtis opened an Amoco gasoline station near his home in Rochester. He later worked for the post office, retiring after 17 years. He also operated an antique store with his wife.

Below is the timeline of Glenn Curtis’ service:

Army Air Forces Technical Training Command St. Petersburg, Florida, Nov. through Dec. 1942

Lawson General Hospital, Chamblee, GA, Co. G, MDTS, dental, Dec. 42 to Feb. 1943

Army Air Forces Station Hospital Chicago, IL, March to June 1943

25th Training Group Squad C, Jefferson Barracks, MO, July to Oct. 1943

O’Reilly Hospital, Springfield, MO, end of 1943

Return to 25th Training Group, Jefferson Barracks

18th Replacement Wing, Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 1944

Walker Army Air Force base in Victoria Kansas, where his wife may have joined him until he moved on.

Worked at Pressed Steel Car Company, McKees Rocks, PA, a rail car manufacturing company that produced tanks during WW2.

3706 Army Air Forces Squad H. Sheppard Field TX, July 1945 to Sept. 1945

1060 Army Air Forces Squad E Sept thru Jan or Feb 1946

Thank you to Gary Curtis, who reached out and shared this history and amazing photos of his Dad and his time at Lawson General Hospital.

Antioch School, first Chamblee school 1905

A one-room school was built in Chamblee in 1905. Prior to that, some families sent their children to school in Roswell. Ida Wallace of Chamblee rode the Roswell Railroad from Chamblee to Roswell each week to attend school. She stayed in Roswell until the end of each week, then returned to her family in Chamblee. (“A History of the Community and the City of Chamblee,”1983 by Vivian Price)

The location of Antioch School is now 5295 New Peachtree Road. The school site was next to the First Baptist Church of Chamblee Cemetery and for many years was the location of Interactive College of Technology. Today 5295 New Peachtree Road is home to the International Pentecostal Church of God.

When the Camp Gordon World War I encampment was built in Chamblee, it took over a large portion of the town, including Antioch School. A new school was planned for Chamblee and the two-story brick school was completed and opened in 1919.

The new Chamblee School housed both the grammar school and high school. The Atlanta Constitution proclaimed the school to be one of the finest schools in the state, calling it “beautiful and modern in every respect and contains every feature of the up-to-date school house.” The final cost of the new school was $30,000.

The old Antioch School was moved to the new property and was used for the Home Economics program.

This may not seem like a great deal of historical information about Antioch School. I agree! I’ll continue to be on the lookout for more history and this blog post will be updated when and if I locate more history.

During the time that World War I Camp Gordon took over Chamblee, the school was part of the camp’s property. After the war, it was moved to the new site for the school, which is the same location as Chamblee High School today. The old Antioch School building was used as the Home Economics building. This 1940 photo also shows the cannery on the right and students forming the letters CHS in front of the school. (Photo from “A History of the Community and the City of Chamblee,”1983 by Vivian Price)

This 1938 yearbook page shows students standing in front of the Home Economics building, the former Antioch School.

Chamblee High School photo 1928

This week, I’m sharing a 1928 photo of Chamblee High School graduates. Kathryne Carpenter is in the center of the back row and the photo was shared with me by the Anderson family, descendants of the Carpenters. The Carpenter family lived in Dunwoody, but Chamblee was the only high school in north DeKalb County at the time. Students living in Dunwoody, Doraville, Brookhaven and Chamblee attended Chamblee High School.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I’ll return with a new history post next week.

Icehouses in Chamblee and Doraville

New posts every Monday.

This post was updated on December 18, 2023 with additional information about Goree Ice Company.

5441 Peachtree Road in Chamblee was once the local icehouse. Today, it is home to the Chamblee location of AR Workshop, the DIY business begun by Maureen Anders and Adria Ruff.

Chamblee’s historic icehouse is now home to AR Workshop. Next door is the Frosty Caboose ice cream store and behind the former icehouse is the railroad and MARTA.

I haven’t found much history in my research of Chamblee’s icehouse. I’m sure having an icehouse nearby was helpful to the many dairies in the area. Chamblee had 33 dairies in 1939, plus there were dairies in nearby Doraville, Dunwoody and Brookhaven.

The Pierce Certified Dairy, W. O. Pierce Dairy, and P. E. Pierce Dairy were located on both sides of North Peachtree Road, between North Shallowford Road and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Irvindale (previously P. E. Hyde Dairy) and Chatham Dairies were located across from the railroad tracks.  A dairy on Hardee Avenue served WWI Camp Gordon and was known as Camp Gordon Dairy. 

The Wright Dairy was located along Briarwood Road near Buford Highway and N. Druid Hills. Ice was delivered every day to the dairy, likely from the Chamblee icehouse.

This photo of the icehouse appears in “Chamblee, GA-A Centennial Portrait, 1908-2008” and indicates the icehouse is still standing in 2008. However, the photo itself is not dated.

The Goree Ice Company of Doraville opened on Buford Highway in 1946. In 1967, in addition to an ice store, Goree’s was a convenience store, gas station, and bait and fishing supply store known as Angler’s Corner. The ice plant sold block ice to restaurants and hotels for ice carvings. The plant was nonautomated and produced 17 tons of ice every two days.(“Images of America: Doraville” by Bob Kelley)

An article was written in the July 26, 1983 Atlanta Constitution about Goree’s titled“The coolest guys are on the block.”. In 1983, the business supplied ice to Allied Concrete to cool its mortar, but it also did a good business selling crushed and snow ice to afternoon picnickers. It was the only block ice business in metro Atlanta in 1983.

If you have memories of the Chamblee Icehouse or of Goree Ice Company, write to me at pasttensega@gmail.com so I can share these memories in a later blog post.