when telephone long distance was shortwave radio. ( have a old radio with these frequencies on the dial)

[Marthe48]

9. My husband's family had a party line

They lived in rural WV. They liked telling what happened during a flood in 1950. My mother-in-law had just had her 4th baby. She was in bed for 3 days as required back then. They lived right beside a creek that flooded, got right to their doorstep. The older kids were with relatives' families. My mother-in-law picked up the phone, hoping to call the relatives to see if the rest of the family was okay. She heard other people talking about the situation on the party line and assuming that mother and baby were drowned. It scared her to death. My father-in-law got his car up to the step and carried them out. The got to safety before the road was flooded. They were lucky the water didn't rise much higher, and their house was spared. They didn't find out till later that the rest of the family was okay. It was scary for them, but as the years passed, remembering the conversation on the party line lightened the story a little.