SURPRISE: Main Street Party Line Phones

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PARTY LINE CONVERSATION

Everybody likes gossip, right? How about a little old-fashioned gossip? I mean really old-fashioned. Like the type you might pick up if you go on to one of those new fangled telephone machines down at the corner market.

You can relive those days down at the Market House (formerly the Swift Market) at the corner of Main Street and Center. You know the place -- the one with the potbellied stove, and all of the kitchen and household items. I bet you probably just stopped to buy some coffee or candy, right?

Adjacent to the doors are some old-time telephones with a sign that invites you to:

Stop a minute and pick up the earpiece. Sorry that it doesn’t clip on your ear but this is the way great-grandpa did it. If you don’t hear something immediately, just click the hookswitch, which holds the earpiece. That should do it.

You never know what you might hear (yeah right) but once I heard about a fire! This is a great spot to lean, relax, people watch, and get a good chuckle. There have been a couple of versions. The latest one was written in 2001. If you like little audio gags like this, you will be in heaven if you take your time here and along Center Street just outside the door.