Remembering the old way of communicating!

Super H Mike · Sep 8, 2018

I just put a charging port on my 1953 tractor so I can charge my phone while out in the fields and so the wife can call or text me if needed or let me know when lunch is ready. That jarred my memory to how my Grandparents used to do the same thing. Grandma would take the old 16 gauge single shot complete with a bent barrel and fire a shot into the air to signal come home or that lunch was ready. Two shots fired close together meant get home right now because something was wrong ! I remember we were bundling corn stalks one time and two shots rang out, we high tailed it home to find the heifers had gotten out ! Wonder what my Grandfather would say to me with a phone on his old tractor !

timcasbolt · Sep 8, 2018

We had a bell in the cupola over the garage when I was growing up. Didn't matter what us kids were doing, when we heard the bell it was time to get home.

Dave BN · Sep 8, 2018

We had a dinner bell that could be heard for a mile or more. Brother and
I ignored it because Mom was not a very good cook. She was a great mom
but a poor cook.

Moonlite37 · Sep 8, 2018

Before we had telephones and few of the eligible ladies had phones, I would arrive and wait until they got ready and talk to her dad. Had to tell him where we would go and what time we would be back. I remember years ago I went to see s new girl and only saw he brother. I told him I was there to meet his sister. He replied, "She will be glad to meet you, she is not particular".

DPittman · Sep 8, 2018

My grandma used a conch shell to call the men in. I don't know how far the sound went, but it is worked.

Southern Ray · Sep 8, 2018

Mom turned on the windmill when it was close to noon.

kcm.MN · Sep 8, 2018

(quoted from post at 11:34:06 09/08/18) Wonder what my Grandfather would say to me with a phone on his old tractor !

He'd probably wish he'd of had one. Would've saved money on shotgun shells -- then again, maybe the shot shells were cheaper then. *lol*

JD Seller · Sep 8, 2018

My younger sisters would ride the one milk cow out to get us for dinner. YES a milk cow. They would have to go by the pasture to get to any of the back fields. This one old cow was tame as could be. They wanted a horse but that was a no go. So they got that old cow to let them ride her. They just tied a twine string to her horns and steered that way. The cow was just a two speed, stop and SLOW forward. LOL The sisters always found a treat to give the old cow. Fresh ear of sweet corn or an apple. Grand Dad kept that old caw around until she died just because they rode her. The older of them was tall teenager and her legs just about drug the ground but she would still ride that old cow. LOL

I wish I had photos or a movie of that. I had kind of forgotten about them doing that.

IF we were working close to the house we would hear the dinner bell.

Northvale PA · Sep 8, 2018

Dad would whistle for us. Very loud and you could hear him about 1/2 mile away. My brother and I learned to whistle that loud too. So, I would whistle in my kids. My wife?s mom did the same.

coshoo · Sep 8, 2018

Mom had a really powerful "Yoo Hoo!"- we could hear it from all over the farm (if not running a tractor).

rrlund · Sep 8, 2018

Am I the only person who ever owned a watch? lol

Geo-TH,In · Sep 8, 2018

Remembering the old way of communicating!
Wasn't the oldest way of communicating digitally?
The Indiana sending up smoke signals!
Then another old digital way of communicating, telegraph.
Fastest way of analog communicating, tell-a-woman.

ddbar3 · Sep 8, 2018

Never had to worry about lunch or dinner. Always brought out to me in the field. Never went home till supper or dark. Long days!

Super H Mike · Sep 8, 2018

Lol, Yes he had a nice watch, for the times, in fact I own that very watch now, but he only wore it on Sundays and Holidays to avoid losing it or scratching it up on the farm I suppose. He was frugal and always cared for what he did have very well. I was just a kid then but it still left an impression on me that I try to follow also.

K Effective · Sep 8, 2018

We had a dinner bell up on the windmill, Grandma would call Grandpa in- I still have it, but took it off the windmill when the boards rotted away.

There were a few times Grandpa must have wanted to get some things done without a curious little snot asking a million questions, he'd send me in to "help" Grandma with laundry or some such. She, in turn, would send me out to get him for lunch or supper. I did get to watch or listen to quite a few Cubs games after lunch, and may have caught a little cat nap during the game, just like Grandpa.

They had a party line phone, I recall getting in big trouble for listening in the one and only time I did, I was just curious who those folks were!

MARK ROBKE · Sep 8, 2018

At lunch time in the summer,Mom would stand on the back porch and ring a hand held bell,and yell 'dinnertime'. Dad liked watching 'Let's Make A Deal' at lunch time and it came on at 1:30,so that is why lunch gradually became ready at 1:30.We ate supper after milking,around 7:30-no bell ringing required!Mark.

Super H Mike · Sep 8, 2018

The more I think about it today , I could be mistaken about them using it as often as for lunch, maybe it was just emergencies....could be , I was only around 10 then after all !

flying belgian · Sep 8, 2018

Watch doesn't work so good. We always ate dinner around 11:30. I emphasize AROUND. If we would have come in at 11:30 Mother may or may not have had dinner ready. She may have wanted to finish the mending or it took longer in the garden then she thought so dinner was going to be 15 minutes late. So we always waited for her to yell out the door DINNER, DADDY, GREG, DINNER. Sometimes she had it ready 10 minutes early so had we come in via our watch, it would have been cold.

Kansasredneck · Sep 8, 2018

If evolution were real, the next generation would be born without vocal cords, and two thumbs per hand.

RedMF40 · Sep 8, 2018

Someone already mentioned a "party line." Years ago I mounted an antique crank-style phone on the wall. I could receive calls along with the other modern phones, but couldn't call out with this phone. Many of you know how these phones worked:

If you wanted to call someone in town, you cranked the phone. Every phone in town rang, but only the person who heard their ring sequence was supposed to pick up. Of course, if you were bored on a Saturday night....

It was probably easy to find out what all your neighbors were doing in these small towns. Not so easy to explain HOW you found out LOL.

hermit · Sep 8, 2018

No need for any kind of communication for my Dad. He could look up and tell you within a few minutes of what time it was. We weren't usually close to home anyway, so when he stopped on the turning row, I knew it was time, but I hadn't been hungry until then. By the time I got back around there, I was about to starve. We usually had a jar of beans, plenty of cornbread, and whatever was coming out of the garden. If we were close to the house, we went there for dinner and Dad would listen to the farm and ranch report on the battery powered radio. KMAC out of Santone. Henry Guerra was the news and weather man, and Charlie Walker was still a disc jockey then. He later went on to Nashville. But after the news, it was back on the tractors or whatever we were doing. I wouldn't take anything for the memories, but wouldn't want to go through some of those times and conditions again. Same with the service. I never cussed and griped out loud, but lots of things went on in my mind that it is a good thing no one else could hear!!

Remembering the old way of communicating!

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