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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhy is it, in old movies...
If you put a hanky over the phone mic it completely disguises your voice?
Today: "Sam? Is that you? You sound like you're talking through a handkerchief. Got a cold?"
JuJuYoshida
(2,216 posts)Seriously, I have no clue why they did that lol!
trof
(54,256 posts)Smoking was actually good for you back then.
Doctors endorsed cigarette brands.
Or at least guys in white coats with a stethoscope around their necks in magazine ads.
"Chesterfields, not a cough in a carload"
Much like now, you could just make shit up.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)I get the Buzzr TV channel, which broadcasts old game shows.
One I watch a lot is "I've Got a Secret" with the host Gary Moore.
On the show he is never without a cigarette in his hand or mouth (they did that back in the 50's and 60's).
Sadly, I googled Gary Moore and found out he died of emphysema and throat cancer.
trof
(54,256 posts)I started when I was 14.
left-of-center2012
(34,195 posts)... from smoking.
It's a horrible way to die, gasping for each breath.
csziggy
(34,137 posts)She only quit when they put her on oxygen 24/7 seven year ago. She died in January of COPD. She was 87. Her last year was bad, but her last two weeks were hell.
Congratulations on quitting! I hope you get many more years to appreciate breathing clearer.
Wounded Bear
(58,698 posts)never really regretted it.
trof
(54,256 posts)So the folks on the shows smoked.
Most of them did anyway.
TeamPooka
(24,248 posts)Cracks me up but that's how it was back then.
hunter
(38,325 posts)A weaker signal might be significantly distorted. Carbon microphones and primitive automatic gain control circuits were not noted for their high fidelity and linearity.
trof
(54,256 posts)I'll just say that it never worked for me.
They always said "trof, is that you? Got a cold?"
hunter
(38,325 posts)trof
(54,256 posts)But I won't.
No, I won't.
hunter
(38,325 posts)UTUSN
(70,725 posts)The Blue Flower
(5,444 posts)Such silly people.
mucifer
(23,559 posts)it was their finger? I always thought that was weird.
spiderpig
(10,419 posts)(or whatever it was at the bottom of the handset) and screwing the cover back on?
Ring-ring...
"Hello?Hello??Hello???"
trackfan
(3,650 posts)and there were just a couple metal contacts in the bottom part of the handset, you still could be heard, but just faintly. I'm not sure how that worked.
Rhiannon12866
(205,851 posts)Wouldn't that hang up the phone?
hunter
(38,325 posts)All the switches in the system were mechanical. Sometimes the switch contacts would get dirty (cigarette smoke covered, etc...) and rapidly switching them on and off would clear the contacts without hanging up the call. On operator-assisted calls (many long distance calls were operator assisted; all long distance calls in some places) it would also blink the light on the operator's board, catching the operator's attention so she could look for faults on her end.
Marthe48
(17,011 posts)were having one of their epic fights. She threatened to call the police, and he took the mic out of the handset. In spite of the fight, we laughed when we heard that. They were hell on each other. The best thing they did was get divorced the 3rd time and make it stick.