Old trick

A reddit item was discussing the old HIGH cost of long distance. I can verify. In 1967 I made the mistake of talking for an hour to a girlfriend on the other side of the country, and got a $135 phone bill.

The redditors mentioned a trick that people used to transfer a free message, which was apparently encouraged by Bell. A collect Person-to-Person call was free if the target wasn’t there. Tricky people would send messages by requesting “Collect Call for Bill Gotthejob” or “Collect Call for Jane Sendmoney”.

At first I didn’t remember using this trick. Today the memory popped up. When our aunt and uncle were visiting, they would tell us they had arrived back in Ponca by making a “Collect call for Phillip”, who was our cat. When we visited them, we’d signal our safe arrival back in Manhattan with “Collect call for Duffy”, who was their dog.

Incidentally, Duffy was a collie, which is a redundant fact. Collies were the only permissible dog in the ’50s, just as martinis were the only permissible drink and bridge was the only permissible game. ’50s rigidity had a good side. The only permissible jobs were well-paid with short hours, and the only permissible houses were decent and affordable. Now we have all sorts of dogs and games and drinks and drugs, but we only have low-paid 24/7 jobs and totally unaffordable houses. The ’50s rigidity was better for humans.