A BIT OF BACKGROUND

For those who weren't around all those years ago, here are a few facets of mid-20th century Americana. These are discussed here to make your trip down shopping mall memory lane seem a bit more vivid and to help you get the proper mind-set to better understand the times.

TELEPHONE

As strange as it may seem, until the late 1970s, it was (in essence) illegal to physically own your phone. All hardware was provided -and possessed- by the respective phone company (there was but a single, major one back then). Everyone was charged a "rental fee" on their monthly bill for their standard, wall-mount or "Princess" model.

The phone you would have rented at your local shopping mall "Ma Bell Store" would have utilized analogue, "rotary-dialing". "Touch Tone" telephony did not appear until around 1969. Moreover, answering machines did not become commonplace until the late 1970s.

Oh yes, no one had a cellular phone until the mid-1980s, and these were rather large, clunky things...nothing like the super-miniaturized models of today.